Small Property Owners Association names 2026 leadership

 

 

Boston, MA The Small Property Owners Association (SPOA) has begun 2026 with new leadership. After serving as vice president for five years, Amir Shahsavari has been elected president of SPOA, with Tony Lopes elected vice president. Both were elected by the board.

“I would like to thank the SPOA Board for their confidence as we begin the next chapter in SPOA’s legacy,” said Shahsavari. “Our mission remains focused on defending property rights while promoting balanced housing policies that benefit renters, property owners, and the many small businesses that rely on neighborhood-based housing providers.”

“It’s my privilege to serve alongside Amir,” Lopes said. “Small property owners provide the majority of rental housing in Massachusetts, yet they are facing rapidly rising operating costs that make staying in business more difficult every year.”

SPOA opposes the proposed rent control ballot initiative and is actively working to educate policymakers and the public about its risks to housing supply, affordability, and housing quality.

Small property owners are small business owners who provide 65% of the rental housing in Boston and Massachusetts. We manage our properties in a more hands-on way, making us directly available to our tenants in the process of making them feel at home.

In Massachusetts, these owners provide a large share of naturally occurring affordable housing and they are typically local, family-run businesses rather than institutional investors.

Small property owners are experiencing compounding cost increases across nearly every category. Electricity and natural gas rates in Massachusetts have risen by double-digit percentages since 2021. Property insurance premiums have increased by an estimated 20 to 40 percent for many small landlords. Maintenance and construction costs remain 30 to 50 percent higher than pre-pandemic levels due to labor shortages and material inflation.

“These costs continue to rise regardless of rent caps,” Lopes said. “When rents are capped artificially, owners cannot keep up with maintenance and repairs, which ultimately hurts tenants.”

Both leaders expressed concern over renewed calls for rent control, citing extensive research showing that rent control reduces housing supply, discourages maintenance, and accelerates consolidation by large institutional investors.

Lopes pointed to recent examples. “In St. Paul, Minnesota, rent control led to a sharp decline in new construction and investment shifted to neighboring Minneapolis. Increased supply helped stabilize rents in Minneapolis, while rents rose in rent-controlled St. Paul due to reduced housing availability.”

Shahsavari noted that Massachusetts voters rejected rent control decades ago. “Voters banned rent control statewide in 1994 for good reason,” he said. “In Cambridge, where rent control was once most severe, voters rejected its return in 2003 by a 61 percent to 39 percent margin.”

Shahsavari also cautioned against claims that proposed ballot initiatives exempt small property owners. “The exemption applies only to owner-occupied buildings with four units or fewer,” he said. “That represents a minority of small property owners, while the majority would still be treated like large corporate landlords.”

Shahsavari shared a personal account illustrating the real-world consequences of rent control.

“My mother came to this country as an immigrant and chose to give back by providing housing,” he said. “During the rent control era of the 1980s and 1990s, the system prevented her from repairing and improving her building and from addressing willful nonpayment and property damage. Good tenants eventually left out of fear and frustration.”

“Yes,” Lopes added. “Many people come to Boston seeking the American dream. When they encounter policies that have failed everywhere else, they understandably question why they came here at all.”

Rather than punitive regulation, SPOA is advocating for innovative solutions. One proposal would allow property owners to voluntarily allocate a portion of rent toward a tenant’s future down payment, with government matching funds, tax incentives, and interest-free loans to support property repairs.

“We need policies that increase opportunity, preserve housing quality, and turn renters into future homeowners,” Shahsavari said. “That means working with small property owners, not against them.”