Today’s the day before a committee of legislators decides if one important housing bill will have a chance to pass this summer. That bill is known as the Tenant’s Opportunity to Purchase Act and it needs your help.

If you’ve ever been living in a building when your landlord puts it up for sale, you know why that can be scary. If a new landlord jacks up your rent, you might be forced out of the place you call home.

That’s why the Tenant’s Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) matters. TOPA would give tenants the chance to buy their homes if their landlord decides to sell – meaning that instead of your home in the hands of a new landlord, it’s in the hands of you and your community.

In real estate terms, it’s called the right of first refusal. For us, it could mean the difference between uprooting our families or building a different future.

Send your representatives an email today to ask them to vote TOPA out favorably (or encourage their colleagues to do so).

Purchasing a building under TOPA could look like forming a cooperative and buying your building together, or working with a nonprofit to create permanently affordable housing. There’s a lot of different ways it could happen, but one thing’s for sure: community-owned housing keeps our people in our homes.

A new Harvard analysis found that a record half of renters in the U.S. can’t afford rent. Housing prices in Massachusetts are soaring. We need every tool in the toolbox to keep our communities home, and TOPA could do that and more.

Tell your representatives you support TOPA and want to see them take action today. Sending an email takes less than a minute.

Thank you for helping make democracy work.