CES’ first organizing campaigns focused on transportation, utilities, affordable food, and employment issues. These campaigns successfully held back bus fare and utility rate increases, lowered milk prices and fought for the rights of the unemployed.

As rents skyrocketed during the mid-1970s, tenants' rights, rent control and preserving affordable housing became CES’ priorities.

CES focuses on educating low and moderate tenants about their rights to affordable, decent and safe housing, to train and empower them to take action to protect and advocate for their rights, and to build powerful, participatory tenant organizations of low income and working class people to work together toward these goals.

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The following are some of CES’ significant accomplishments:

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● Winning rent control for the cities of Los Angeles and West Hollywood.

● Incorporating the City of West Hollywood and electing CES members to the West Hollywood City Council.

● Assisting 4 low income tenant associations to purchase their HUD subsidized housing complexes and preserve them as permanent affordable housing.

● Winning City of Los Angeles then to combat slum housing, such as the Systematic Code Enforcement program (SCEP) and the Rent Escrow Account Program (REAP).

● Organizing thousands of renters to stop unjust evictions and rent increases, force landlords to make needed repairs and save affordable housing.

● Educating and organizing tenants to eradicate unsafe, unhealthy and toxic conditions in their dwellings.

● Winning just compensation for tenants displaced and replacement of affordable housing due to of government projects such as the convention center expansion and the Los Angeles Unified School District school construction plans.

● Winning numerous laws to provide tenants' rights and preserve affordable  housing on the federal, state on local levels.

● Providing thousands of renters with crucial information to protect their rights at CES' twice-weekly tenants’ rights clinic.