Being evicted can have many harmful effects, from upending lives to destroying credit ratings to homelessness. Yet, right now, in communities across the country, landlords don’t need a good reason to evict tenants. In fact, in some places, they don’t even need a reason at all.

From small towns to big cities nationwide, there’s a grassroots movement to protect renters from unjust evictions.

Just Cause Eviction (JCE) legislation provides critical legal protections to make the lease renewal process more predictable, empower tenants to advocate for better living conditions without fear of retaliation, and promote long-term housing stability for low-income and marginalized renters. Most JCE laws:

• Protect renters from evictions without a legitimate cause.

• Stabilize markets by protecting tenants from unreasonable rent increases.

• Provide legal options (and sometimes financial assistance) to challenge unfair eviction notices from landlords.

• Empower tenants experiencing poor living conditions, discrimination, or other illegal landlord behavior to advocate for improvements with landlords or file complaints with the proper state authority without fear of retaliation.

New Hampshire, Oregon, and New Jersey have passed JCE protections statewide. Big cities like New York City and Los Angeles have passed it. Now small towns and cities, from Brattleboro to Winooski in Vermont, are organizing to make it happen too.

This movement can lead to citywide, statewide, and nationwide policies that would protect renters and help alleviate some of the pressures the housing crisis is putting on everyday working families.

Join the campaign and stand with renters against greedy landlords in support of Just Cause Eviction protections in communities nationwide by adding your voice now.