Join Mass Union, Legal Aid, and trainer Todd Fry for a two-part webinar series about negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with your Local Housing Authority.
Public housing tenant organizations in Massachusetts have a right to organize, be heard, and participate in matters affecting tenants. These rights can be made much stronger if a tenant organization sits down with housing authority staff and negotiates an agreement called a Memorandum of Understanding (or MOU) or a Memorandum of Agreement (or MOA).
MOUs can be powerful tools for tenant groups. They can open up better communications between tenants and housing authorities. They can provide access to resources to help strengthen tenant organizations. And, most importantly, they can provide tenant groups with a place at the table to work with the housing authority on issues of concern.
For more information, checkout the updated Memorandum of Understanding Know Your Rights Booklet!
Session 1: Know Your MOU Rights – with Legal Aid
June 16, 2026, 10:30am – 11:30am
Session 1 took place on June 16 and featured two legal experts — Annette Duke from Mass Law Reform Institute, and Susan Hegel from Cambridge and Somerville Legal Services, as well as Rey Santana, President of the Mystic Tenants Association. Annette, Susan and Rey explained what an MOU usually covers, your rights to negotiate, what recourse you have if a housing authority refuses to negotiate, and highlights from a sample MOU.
Session 2: Negotiation Skills with Todd Fry
July 9, 2026, 11am – 1pm
Now that you know the regulations about what your MOU can cover, learn ways to negotiate a strong agreement with your LHA. In an interactive style, we will walk through strategies, skills, and some practical tips to help you achieve the MOU that tenants in your community want.