KATHY BROWN
Backs grievance board

A landlord group that was behind the movement to ban rent control seven years ago is launching a campaign to prevent it from resurfacing again in Boston.

Specifically, the group is rallying against a home rule petition being prepared by the Boston Tenant Coalition that would control rent increases at an estimated 75,000 apartments in buildings with four or more units and three-unit properties that are not occupied by the owner.

About 30 property owners, most of them from Cambridge and Boston, attended a meeting last Wednesday evening organized by the Small Property Owners Association to plan a strategy to fight the proposal. SPOA plans to mail letters to all Boston property owners urging them to stop the rent control movement, and the group is also urging all landlords to lobby their state and local officials.

SPOA mounted a successful statewide ballot referendum back in 1994 to abolish rent control. At the time, Brookline, Boston and Cambridge were among the cities that had rent-controlled units. Now, the group is taking aim at a draft proposal by the BTC that would, among other things, allow some tenants to protest rent increases before a “grievance board.”

“Basically, it’s rent control. They’re [Boston Tenant Coalition] trying to disguise it by saying it’s a rent grievance board,” said Lenore Schloming, president of SPOA.

Schloming and other SPOA members argue that capping rents at properties prohibits landlords from earning enough to properly maintain their buildings. Furthermore, they say that the proposal won’t benefit needy tenants. As evidence, they point to the fact that after rent control was banned in 1994, only a small percentage of tenants – SPOA estimates around 7 percent – qualified by income or elderly and disabled status to be living in a rent-controlled unit.

“What’s wrong with rent control is that the landlord is not getting enough money to keep up their properties,” said Schloming.

But the BTC, a network of grassroots tenant and neighborhood groups, contends that in addition to providing protections for tenants, the petition also safeguards landlords.

“There would be a grievance system where a landlord could show that their expenses exceed the rent they receive,” said BTC Housing Coordinator Kathy Brown.

Tenant advocates argue that something must be done about the excessively high rents in the city. Rents in some Boston neighborhoods have soared to as much as $1,600 for a one-bedroom or two-bedroom unit, two times as high as what a city renter earning the median income can afford, according to the group. Tenant groups estimate that 42 percent of the state’s households pay more than 30 percent of their income for rent.

Menino in Mix

Brown said the home rule petition has not been finalized yet. The group is planning to present a more solid proposal to the Boston City Council some time in October.

Brown said the BTC has worked with community and tenant groups, and labor unions, to formulate the proposal, but also said the group has not “had conversations” with SPOA. She said that the proposal will draw broad support and has even gotten backing from some small property owners.

“We think we’ve come up with a very, very reasonable proposal for 2002. We would love to roll back rents. This isn’t rolling back rent,” she said.

The BTC proposal would allow elderly, disabled and low- to moderate-income tenants to challenge annual rent increases above the consumer price index. Other tenants could argue against rent increases to a municipal board if they exceed 10 percent or double the CPI, whichever is lower. New housing and single-family and two-family homes would be exempt.

The BTC also wants owners selling their properties to give priority to nonprofit housing corporations or tenant groups seeking to purchase them as long as their offers equal other offers on the table. In addition, the BTC is pushing for tax rebates for landlords charging below market-rate rents, and a tenant/landlord assistance bureau to help explain the system and regulations.

The BTC also is seeking a system that would require landlords to prove that they have a “just cause” to evict. One example of a just cause for eviction is a tenant not paying rent, said Brown.

The rent control issue has come into focus as political leaders have railed against high housing costs and the affect it’s having on the state’s economy. Last week, several SPOA members talked openly about supporting only gubernatorial candidates and Boston City Councilors who oppose rent control.

The landlord group is also taking shots at Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, who has been a rent control opponent in the past but recently indicated he would support some type of “rent stabilization.”

“We’re [BTC] negotiating with the mayor. The mayor wants to bring some form of this to the City Council,” said Brown.

A spokeswoman for the mayor confirmed that Menino has met with the BTC and is researching some kind of “rent stabilization program.” The mayor supports rent stabilization in principle, Carol Brennan said, but the BTC has not arrived at any final plan that the mayor can support.

At a March public hearing and rally at Boston City Hall organized by BTC, several city councilors said they had been opposed to rent control in the past, but also acknowledged that discussion was needed on the topic.

Small Property Owners Rally In Opposition to Rent Control

by Banker & Tradesman time to read: 4 min
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