The Small Property Owners Association (SPOA), founded in 1986 to consolidate the power of landlords in Cambridge, became a statewide organization primarily responsible for the abolition of rent control in Massachusetts by petitioning to get Question 9 on the ballot in 1994 (Bill Cunningham, Belonging [unpublished manuscript], 128). Question 9 passed by a hair-thin margin statewide, in spite of being overwhelmingly rejected by voters in Boston, Cambridge, and Brookline, the three municipalities statewide that actually had some form of rent control in place. The passage of Question 9 replaced legislation which enabled towns to enact local rent control laws in Massachusetts with new legislation banning local rent control (Belonging, 153). Rent control has not existed in MA since, and SPOA has continued to organize to fight attempts to reinstate it.
SPOA’s rise was part of a upsurge of landlord class organization in the ‘70s and ‘80s to fight rent control laws in Massachusetts – a similar organization formed in Somerville (the Somerville Property and Home Owners Association [SPHOA]) in 1974 (Steve Strahs, “Chamber of commerce-backed owners group demands 44% hike,” Somerville Journal, November 14, 1974, 12).
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Scott Levitan was the Director of University and Commercial Real Estate at Harvard. Levitan also served as Treasurer of the Small Property Owners Association (SPOA) (Cummingham, Belonging, p 355). Levin held these roles during SPOA's intensive 1994 lobbying effort in support of MA Ballot Question 9. (See entry on Small Property Owners Association (SPOA)). As reported in the Harvard Crimson, the passage of Question 9 meant "Harvard will no longer face local rent control restrictions. This means that Harvard Real Estate, as a landlord, will be free to raise rents in its rent-controlled housing units. This also means that Harvard Real Estate will no longer need to approach the local rent control board in order to receive approval for capital improvements on property."
(Cunningham, Bill, "Belonging", Unpublished book; Trumpbour, John, "How Harvard Rules", South End Press)