Massachusetts’ Newest Eviction Law Will Scare Away New Housing
Massachusetts’ housing shortage and soaring rents are being exacerbated by the commonwealth’s extreme eviction-sealing law, by scaring away new housing.
Massachusetts’ housing shortage and soaring rents are being exacerbated by the commonwealth’s extreme eviction-sealing law, by scaring away new housing.
More than 400 Bay Staters have filed petitions for their eviction records to be sealed since a new law took effect earlier this month, Sen. Lydia Edwards said Wednesday.
Thousands of Massachusetts residents gained a new tool in the search for stable housing Monday, as a compromise between tenant advocates and the real estate lobby took effect allowing eligible tenants to have their past eviction records sealed.
It would cause landlords statewide to raise application minimums for income, credit and other screening metrics. It would ignore the clear alternative to the problem of discrimination based on past evictions.
With a champion for eviction record sealing now chairing the Joint Committee on Housing, tenants rights advocates are feeling a renewed hope for passage of the “HOMES Act” this session.