Happening this Week, NLIHC to Host Next State and Local Tenant Protections Network Call on December 11

By Nada Hussein, NLIHC Research Analyst, State and Local Innovation 

This Thursday (December 11), NLIHC will host the next State and Local Tenant Protections Network call from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm ET. During the call, attendees will have the opportunity to share with housing advocates, tenants and tenant leaders, academics, and legal service providers from across the country about their upcoming efforts to advance tenant protection policies in 2026. Tenant protections, which are laws, policies, and programs that are codified into law to safeguard renter households against the threat of eviction, displacement, and discriminatory or harassing behavior from landlords, seek to rectify the well-documented power imbalance that exists between tenants and landlords and give renters an equitable footing in asserting their rights during tenancy. Tenant protections not only seek to protect renters at all stages of their lease terms, but the presence of such laws, which can include “just cause” eviction protections, rent stabilization laws, laws that strengthen code enforcement and habitability procedures, and laws that limit “junk” or excessive rental fees are critical for ensuring that renter households across the country can access safe, stable, affordable, and accessible housing of their choice.  

Registration for Thursday’s here. 

In 2025, as states and localities continue to contend with longstanding threats to housing—especially at the federal level—renter households have faced the renewed risk of housing instability. As the cost of housing outpaces the rise in workers’ wages leaving renters cost-burdened by their rental costs, the shortage of affordable and available housing for the lowest-income renters continues to widen, and tenants face health and safety hazards within their homes, the need for policy interventions that seek to ameliorate housing conditions in the private rental market is significant. As such, NLIHC has worked with state and local jurisdictions across the country to support efforts to advance, implement, and enforce tenant protections. Beginning in January 2021, NLIHC began tracking tenant protection policies in its State and Local Tenant Protections Database to understand how state and local governments were responding to the threat of eviction and displacement in communities all across the country. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, when millions of renters across the country faced eviction due to job loss, inability to make rental payments, and the health risks of the public health crisis, NLIHC released several resources, reports, and materials focused on state and local advocacy to advance tenant protection policies. Most recently in October, NLIHC profiled state legislative sessions in 2025 to identify how housing policies fared at the state-levels, showcasing how more than 150 pieces of legislation were introduced at the state-level in 2025 to advance tenant protection policies—underscoring the continued momentum of housing advocates across the country to protect renter households. 

NLIHC created its State and Local Tenant Protections Network (Network) in April 2024 to provide any interested parties, including housing advocates, tenants and tenant leaders, academics and researchers, and legal service providers, with the opportunity to discuss their work to advance tenant protections. The Network serves as an informal gathering space for participants to uplift any tenant protection wins or challenges, request assistance, feedback, and advice from members of the group, and request technical assistance or research support from NLIHC. The Network meets bi-monthly on the second Thursday of the month and will reconvene in February 2026.  

As mentioned, this Thursday’s call will focus on upcoming state and local legislative sessions, including allowing participants to share their policy priorities for the new year. The call will be discussion-based and will allow participants to highlight their work or request support from the larger group. 

December 11 State and Local Tenant Protections Network Call Agenda 

• Welcome 

• Planning and Logistics for State and Local Tenant Protections Network 

  • What topics would you like to see highlighted on an upcoming Network call? 

  • Are there any speakers you would like to have speak or present on an upcoming Network call? 

• Discussion/Q&A 

  • What tenant protection policies will you be advocating for in 2026? 

  • How did tenant protection advocacy fare in your state or locality in 2025? Are you renewing existent efforts to advance tenant protections or creating new efforts to introduce legislation in 2026? 

  • Are there any challenges that your organization or coalition have encountered regarding the tenant protections you are advocating for? 

  • What support(s) or research assistance can NLIHC or the Network provide to your work? 

• Closing and Next Steps 

• Moderator: NLIHC State and Local Research Analyst, Nada Hussein

If you have any questions regarding the State and Local Tenant Protections Network, please contact NLIHC’s State and Local Research team at [email protected]