Claudia Waterton, born in Guyana, South America, emigrated to New York as a child. In 2017, a new landlord bought her building – and then immediately threatened to hike up the rents and take the units out of rent stabilization, Claudia worked together with the other tenants in her building to sue their landlord in housing court and put pressure on their landlord. With the support of the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB), Claudia and her neighbors successfully purchased their building in order to turn it into a limited equity cooperative, securing their homes in the face of systemic challenges. Clianda is now a leader in the fight for the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, which would allow tenants across the state to follow in her foot steps and purchase their own buildings or assign the building to a nonprofit, converting privately owned buildings into social housing.
