An Untimely Death Changes Everything
What happens when the person buying your house dies before the closing date? Or when your tenant passes away mid-lease?
SJC Limits Landlords’ Use of Security Deposits
When one of its tenants vacated her apartment without using professional cleaning services, a landlord deducted $115 from her security deposit. It could face a class-action lawsuit.
Boston Updates Green Goals for Multifamily Sector
The Wu administration is focusing on how to wean Boston’s vast inventory of aging apartments off fossil fuels. But with electricity costs sky-high, landlord groups are wary.
Landlords Can Fill Units Faster By Allowing Pets
Pet-friendly rental units in Boston are filled faster than units that don’t allow pets, according to a new analysis by Zillow.
Trump Administration Swiftly Undoing HUD’s Transgender Protections
The Trump administration is swiftly remaking housing policy as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development retreats from long-established fair-housing protections for transgender people.
Bill on Healey’s Desk Would Boost Fines on Boston Landlords
Boston could soon gain the authority to impose fines of up to $2,000 for property owners, landlords and businesses that violate the city’s sanitary code, under a bill that Beacon Hill lawmakers sent to Gov. Maura Healey’s desk Monday.
States Are Taking the Fight to Squatters
Some states are taking long-overdue legislative steps to deal with squatters: people who take over others’ properties without their consent, sometimes dumping the owner’s stuff and trashing their homes.
Legislature Warms to Boston’s Push for Higher Fines on Landlords
Boston property owners, landlords and businesses that violate the city’s sanitary code could face significantly higher fees under a home rule petition that gained House approval this week and may be on the move in the Senate.
Legal Liability When an Algorithm Screens Tenants
Landlords of apartment buildings in Malden and Canton hired a Texas company to screen tenant applications automatically, prompting a pair of rejected tenants to file a court challenge.
Tenants Face Numerous ‘Junk Fees’
When it comes to junk fees, nobody can hold a candle to landlords. Not even mortgage lenders. Now, the Biden administration is pushing landlords to cut back these charges.
Letter to the Editor: Correcting the Narrative on Property Owners
Late last month, members of the Boston City Council chose once again to vilify the people who are working to build and maintain housing for the many Boston residents who need it.
Two Rapid Solutions to Boston’s Apartment Supply Problem
Boston’s housing supply shortage has reached a tipping point. Allowing landlords to add bedrooms to apartments without the slow, confusing and expensive variance process will rapidly address this vast need.
Apartment Inspection Blitz Raises City-Landlord Tensions
Boston’s ramp-up in apartment inspections to clear out a pandemic-era backlog is not sitting well with the always-vocal Small Property Owners Association.
Train Lures Investors to the South Coast
Massachusetts’ South Coast will not see MBTA commuter rail service until the end of next year, but the train is already making waves in the region’s housing market.
Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Poised to Help Owners Large and Small
Federal authorities’ nearly-successful attempts to wrest a Tewksbury motel from its owner shows that the real estate industry should get behind a reform proposal on Beacon Hill.
Unvented Gas Stoves Might Need to be Illegal
In case you missed it, your unvented gas stove may be slowly debilitating you and your customers. Fortunately, replacements like induction cooktops are both cheap and more effective.
