The Senate Ways and Means Committee late Tuesday approved emergency legislation providing temporary protections for renters and homeowners during the COVID-19 emergency, measures intended to ensure housing security while people are being advised to stay home to achieve collective public health goals.
Under the bill, courts would be prohibited from entering a default judgement for a plaintiff for possession of a residential dwelling in a non-essential eviction action, or from scheduling a court event in such an action. The bill also prohibits a landlord from imposing a late fee for non-payment of rent, or furnishing rental payment data to a consumer reporting agency related to the non-payment of rent, if the tenant provides documentation to the landlord not more than 30 days after the missed rent payment that the non-payment was due to a financial impact from COVID-19.
The restrictions would remain in place for 90 days following the bill’s passage, or until the COVID-19 emergency is terminated, whichever is sooner.
To protect homeowners, the bill (S.2621), under the same time limitations, prohibits a mortgagee, for the purpose of foreclosure of a residential property, from causing notice of a foreclosure sale to be published; exercising a power of sale, exercising a right of entry, initiating a judicial or non-judicial foreclosure process or filing a complaint to determine the military status of a mortgagor.
The bill also includes language to assist people applying for a reverse mortgage, enabling them to receive counseling via real-time video conference rather than in person, an apparent effort to facilitate the social distancing measures that public officials say are critical to slowing the virus’ spread.
The bill was approved as House leaders continue to work on bill with a similar goal and amidst reports that tenants and homeowners, despite assurances from Gov. Charlie Baker, are growing anxious about the consequences of missing April 1 payments due to job and income losses stemming from the pandemic. A bill that would ban evictions and foreclosures during the crisis already has 73 co-sponsors in the 160-member House.
The Senate plans a session at 11 a.m. Wednesday and the House at 11 a.m. Thursday when further action on the housing security legislation is possible, though legislative leaders have not disclosed agenda items for the sessions. Most lawmakers have stopped attending sessions during the state of emergency, leaving work to a skeleton crew.
Eighty community groups and unions signed a recent letter to Beacon Hill leaders urging passage of a tenant-homeowner protection bill.
Lew Finfer, co-director of the Massachusetts Communities Action Network, said that despite Gov. Charlie Baker’s assurances that nobody can be evicted while the housing courts are closed due to coronavirus, many renters don’t understand that and are putting themselves at risk to try to pay rent.
“The courts are closed but that message isn’t generally out there to tenants and if they’re getting eviction notices they think they’re in trouble. They’re desperate and doing whatever they need to do to be able to pay their rent, or they’re moving,” he said.
Citizens’ Housing & Planning Association has urged a freeze on non-essential evictions. The housing advocacy group is also calling on the state to assist residents with rent or mortgage payments in cases of financial hardship exacerbated or caused by COVID-19, and to provide resources to landlords and owners so they can maintain properties and operations while rental income declines and costs associated with the crisis increase.
According to members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation, a portion of a $2 billion pot of aid included in the new $2 trillion CARES Act is aimed at providing assistance to both renters and landlords aimed at prevent evictions.
