Metropolitan Tenants Organization

The mission of the Metropolitan Tenants Organization is to educate, organize and empower tenants to have a voice in the decisions that affect the affordability and availability of safe, decent and accessible housing.

We believe in empowering people.

MTO’s fundamental principles of effective organizing for social change:

1. The sharing and understanding of culture is fundamental to effective organizing.
2. We must be strategic and intentional in all action. Change does not happen by accident.
3. We are accountable to each other and MTO is accountable to its “grassroots” constituencies.
4. While a committed individual can make change, collective efforts are far stronger than the actions of individuals.
5. Do not do for people what they can do for themselves or if you give a person a fish she has food for a day, teach a person to fish and she has food for a lifetime. The goal of good organizers is to work themselves out of a job.
6. Good organizing is building relationships to work for the common good and social change.
7. When we first begin building a relationship, our initial approach should be of respect, listening and acceptance.
8. By intentionally seeking out everyone’s opinion we create inclusiveness and encourage everyone’s full participation.
9. Evaluating, understanding, documenting, communicating and reflecting on our story is the way we learn and grow. Mistakes are mistakes only if we do them again. We succeed only when we build on our successes.
10. This work takes time and a timeline.

The Metropolitan Tenants Organization (MTO) is rooted in a 1981 Community Congress convened to find workable solutions to the affordable housing crisis at the time. The Congress recognized that Chicago needed a citywide organization to represent tenants. It led to a 5-year campaign to pass Chicago’s landmark Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance (RLTO) and the founding of MTO. Passage of the RLTO is a watershed event in MTO’s history. Since the passage of the RLTO, MTO has remained committed to the mission of educating, organizing and empowering tenants to have a voice in the decisions that affect the availability and affordability of safe and decent housing. Our primary goals are to better tenants’ living conditions and preserve housing, stabilize tenancies and prevent homelessness and improve communication between landlords and tenants.