Housing Clinic

WATCH's Housing Advocacy Clinic is for tenants and landlords. Clinic staff will train you on your rights and responsibilities. We will help you walk through the process to resolve your housing problem, and refer you to additional resources as necessary, like fuel assistance, job search resources or food stamps. And after we help you fix the urgent problem you had, you are welcome to join with other WATCH members to fight for more safe and affordable housing in Waltham, by becoming involved in WATCH's organizing efforts. You can also learn more about the clinic by visiting the WATCH Housing Clinic page on the Brandeis University website. 

WATCH's Housing Advocacy Clinic is a unique collaboration between WATCH and Brandeis University, and works closely with the Boston College Legal Assistance Bureau. It is a free twice-weekly drop-in service established at WATCH in 2007 by Brandeis Professor Laura Goldin's community engaged learning classes and staffed by trained students who are supervised by Professor Goldin and WATCH's Executive Director. Although it is designed primarily to assist with fair and safe housing issues, it is often the first point of contact and a resource for community members needing other services and resources.

Do you have a question? Trained advocates can help you with:

• Landlord & Tenant Conflicts
• Threat of Eviction
• Need for Home Renovation or Weatherizaton
• Rent Increases
• Apartment Searches or Tenant Searches
• Poor Living Conditions
• Filling out Public Housing Applications or other paperwork
• General Housing Concerns

The clinic is open on:

Mondays and Thursdays from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM

Visit us:

24 Crescent Street, Suite 201, Waltham, MA

Email:

You can also email us making sure to include the details of your situation.

Call:

If you are unavailable to visit during these hours, call us at  (781) 891-6689 x 203. Clearly leave your name and repeat your phone number twice. We will most likely return your call on a Monday or Thursday evening when the clinic is operating.

Housing Clinic Suggested Resources:

• MassLegalHelp Tenants' Rights in Massachusetts: Private Housing - read about your rights and responsibilities as a tenant and/or landlord. Includes chapters on: security deposits, rents, getting repairs made, discrimination, evictions...etc.
• ABCD Handbook of Tenant/Landlord Rights and Responsibilities  - Action for Boston Community Development provides a guide to assist you with your housing situation.
• Mass Housing Consumer Education Centers - provides resources for homeowners, landlords, prospective buyers, and tenants.
• DHCD Resource Locator - find a service provider and emergency assistance under different locations

Other Resources:

Check out our Community Resource Guide.

For more information on our partnership with Brandeis, or if you are at Brandeis and want to get involved, read this.