ASPIRE has broken multiple laws - in multiple properties - in an effort to quash tenant democracy. ​We are calling on ASPIRE to cease its attempts to obstruct, intimidate, and retaliate against tenants who are organizing for better conditions in their housing.
We, the undersigned, demand that ASPIRE:

1. Immediately cease all retaliation against tenant organizers. In the last year, ASPIRE has attempted to evict multiple tenant organizers at Crystal and Healy Towers for conduct that they claimed violated the lease. ASPIRE’s allegations against these tenants were ultimately determined to be baseless and were thrown out by the appropriate authorities, but not before causing an enormous amount of uncertainty, stress, and fear for these tenants and their neighbors. The message ASPIRE is sending is clear: speaking out has consequences. Each of these evictions violates North Carolina state law §42-37.1, which prohibits retaliatory evictions.

2. Immediately cease all intimidation of tenants for supporting organizing efforts. At both properties, tenants are routinely told by ASPIRE staff and even by the ASPIRE CEO himself not to participate in organizing efforts or associate with ‘outside advocacy groups.’ ASPIRE staff tell tenants not to sign petitions, put up union stickers, come to union meetings, or associate with neighbors who are organizers. These actions undercut tenants’ first amendment rights to free speech and association.

3. Immediately cease all obstruction of tenant democracy. At both properties, ASPIRE staff have interfered with resident organizers’ abilities to reserve meeting space and hold events on-site; have interfered with residents’ lawful right to canvas their neighbors to discuss issues; and have thwarted tenants’ rights to representation through a duly elected Resident Council. Residents have reported serious concerns that insofar as Resident Councils exist on both properties, they are mostly or entirely filled by tenants that ASPIRE management has recruited. At Healy Towers, ASPIRE has not held a Resident Council election in at least 5 years and has removed a tenant publicly connected with Healy Towers United from the Council without warning or notice. At Crystal Towers, ASPIRE abruptly dissolved the Resident Council in Fall 2025 right before initiating a redevelopment process that may result in the building’s sale. ASPIRE stated - without providing evidence - that it dissolved the Crystal Towers Resident Council because its members were appointed and elected illegitimately. The tenants involved dispute this narrative. But even if true, it immediately raises the question: why is ASPIRE suddenly concerned about Resident Council election integrity at Crystal Towers, but not at Healy, where no election has been held for at least 5 years, and where the majority of its current members have been recruited and appointed by ASPIRE management? Why did ASPIRE wait until Fall 2025 to declare the Crystal Towers Resident Council election in question illegitimate, when that election happened over a year and a half prior? Given that the Crystal Towers Resident Council is currently playing an important role in deciding the future of the building, concerns about its legitimacy are weightier than ever. We are concerned that all of these actions – from preventing tenants from meeting and canvassing on-site to interfering with Resident Councils – violate federal housing regulations (24 C.F.R. § 964).

ASPIRE must do better. We demand that ASPIRE sign a legally-binding agreement in which they recognize tenants’ rights to organize and advocate for themselves, both through duly elected Resident Councils and outside of them, and commit to remaining neutral toward all tenant organizing efforts in perpetuity. This legally-binding agreement must include penalties and fines for violations to ensure ASPIRE respects tenants’ rights.