Gov. Charlie Baker acknowledged during a July 16, 2020 press conference that he needs to make a decision "soon" on potentially extending a ban on evictions and foreclosures. Photo by Stuart Cahill | Boston Herald/Pool

Amid rising concern that a “tsunami” of evictions would strike Massachusetts renters on Aug. 18 and proposed solutions would significantly harm landlords, and lenders, Gov. Charlie Baker announced he is extending the state’s eviction moratorium through Oct. 17.

The law that created the current freeze, which also covers residential mortgages, includes a provision that allows Baker to extend it in 90-day increments. The moratorium was originally set to expire Aug. 18.

Housing advocates and the state’s Housing Court had estimated as many as 20,000 evictions might have been filed after the moratorium expired.

“[T]his extension provides residents of the Commonwealth with continued housing security as businesses cautiously re-open, more people return to work, and the state collectively moves toward a ‘new normal,'” Baker’s office said in a statement. “During this 60 day extension, the Administration will consult with the court administrators and other stakeholders regarding programs and policies to help tenants avoid eviction when proceedings resume.”

Baker also announced a $20 million statewide fund, called the the Emergency Rental and Mortgage Assistance program, on July 1. The fund is in addition to an $18 million boost given to the state’s Residential Assistance for Families in Transition emergency homelessness prevention fund. In each program, landlords or mortgage lenders receive payments directly from the RAFT administering agencies, Baker’s office said.

“Between now and October 17, my administration will assess whether additional federal and state resources should be made available for this purpose,” Baker wrote in a letter to Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Robert DeLeo announcing the extension. “We also will be working closely with our colleagues in the judicial branch to ensure that when evictions proceedings resume there are programs in place to help tenants pay their rent and avoid eviction.”

The announcement emphasized the current moratorium does not absolve homeowners of their responsibility to pay their mortgages or of renters or commercial small business tenants to pay their rents if they are able. All must document why they are unable to pay using forms created by the state Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development.

Leaders of the two large state real estate trade associations welcomed Baker’s decision.

“While overall rent collection remains high, Massachusetts currently has the highest unemployment rate in the nation,” NAIOP-MA CEO Tamara Small said in a statement. “We recognize that residential and small business tenants need protection and understand why the Baker-Polito Administration made this decision. We look forward to working with our members, the Administration, the legislature and the courts to find ways to protect tenants while also providing relief to property owners in these challenging times.”

“We understand why the Governor took the approach he did, to look at the extension of the eviction moratorium on an incremental approach,” Greater Boston Real Estate Board CEO Greg Vasil said in an email to Banker & Tradesman. “We have some concerns that our members who are and will continue to deal with the financial impacts of the crisis will be damaged monetarily to an even greater extent by this delay.”

MassLandlords Executive Director Doug Quattrochi said his organization no longer backs the moratorium.

“The moratorium made sense back in March when we didn’t understand the virus at all and had no concept of how else to keep people home,” he said in a statement. “Now it’s clear we need a Fair and Equal Housing Guarantee via Surety Bonds. MassLandlords will continue advocating for this legislative remedy, and will in parallel help impacted members to make the appropriate takings claims with the Commonwealth as a last resort.”

Baker’s move comes after Attorney General Maura Healey and leading Democratic state lawmakers urged the extension.

Much of the attention on Beacon Hill coalesced in recent weeks around a bill from Housing Committee Co-chair Rep. Kevin Honan, Rep. Mike Connolly and Sen. Patricia Jehlen to extend and expand the moratorium on evictions and foreclosures until one year after the governor lifts the current state of emergency. The real estate and lending industries in Massachusetts are strongly opposed to the bill, although most industry leaders have described the potential for a huge wave of evictions as an urgent problem.

The bills would also freeze rents over the same time period and allow small landlords owning up to 15 units to defer mortgage payments until the end of the mortgage if they lose income due to COVID-19. However, the bill faced an uncertain path to passage with the legislature slated to end formal sessions – after which point a single legislator could halt a bill – on July 31.

Connolly told Banker & Tradesman in an email that he viewed Baker’s decision as a victory for renters and promised to “continue pushing for a comprehensive bill to protect tenants, homeowners, and landlords from any negative impacts as a result of COVID-19.”

“It’s reflective of our growing movement for housing justice,” Connolly said. “Our collective efforts with this bill have advanced the conversation to a point where we have been able to avert the coming wave of evictions in August. That said, we must continue working diligently to ensure that no resident of the Commonwealth faces eviction or displacement as a result of any COVID-19 impacts, and I think the principles we’ve outline in our latest bill will remain as relevant and as urgent as ever.”

The moratorium still faces a federal lawsuit from landlords arguing the moratorium is unconstitutional.

The plaintiffs’ lawyers, Richard Vetstein and Jordana Roubicek Greenman, criticized Baker’s decision.

“In the meantime, small landlords continue having to pay their mortgage, property taxes, insurance, utilities, water/sewer for nonpaying tenants, and maintenance and repair, all without receiving the rent payments necessary to meet those obligations,” the pair said in a statement. “If the Commonwealth insists on a moratorium it must simultaneously provide direct rent replacement payments to the rental property owners who are being affected by it.  It cannot continue imposing the burden entirely on the rental property owners.”

Material from State House News Service was used in this report.

UPDATED 1:24 p.m. July 21, 2020: This story has been updated to correct the length of the 60-day moratorium extension and to add comments from industry figures and Rep. Mike Connolly.