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.
Landlord trade group MassLandlords has filed suit against the city of Boston for allegedly hiding emails between city officials and members of Mayor Michelle Wu’s Rent Stabilization Advisory Committee.
MassLandlords is calling all legislators to co-sponsor SD.862 and HD.2630, each “An Act to Further Lead Remediation in Rental Housing by Increasing The Deleading Credit.” These bills are drawing a diverse, statewide, cross-aisle coalition of co-sponsors.
Applicants of color cannot compete in a market made even more restrictive by rent control. Let us create more rental housing to solve both high rents and housing inequality.
Landlords and developers got two wins in the last 30 days in the fight to stop tenant “right of first refusal” or “TOPA” laws: one on Beacon Hill and the other in a Middlesex County Courtroom.
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.
An ambitious effort by one of the biggest players in the mortgage market, Freddie Mac, to open up renters’ access to credit is relying on landlords to help. But few landlords and property managers know the effort exists.
A prominent group representing small landlords has sued state officials for access to data on the state’s pandemic rental aid program it says could show discrimination against renters of color and their landlords.
We are asking the court to order DHCD release records on rental assistance applications, so we can see whether problems in the application process discriminated against renters of color and their landlords.
As part of the ongoing saga to retrofit my Worcester three-decker to be zero-emission, I recently replaced two gas water heaters with heat pump water heaters. If you haven’t heard of these, grab your loofah, you’re in for some fun.
Although benign-sounding, the two bills would literally destroy rental housing through their provisions for “small amounts of demolition,” among other draconian measures.
I understand why elected officials steer toward to the siren song of eviction moratoria. But they don’t provide long-term protection, don’t sustain our limited rental housing supply and are not legal.
Before the pandemic, we had a housing crisis. After the pandemic’s first three waves, it seems things are still bad. And any landlord or property manager trying to lease up an apartment right now is watching that first-hand.
Massachusetts has set aside roughly $1 billion for pandemic rental assistance. But roughly half of applicants aren’t able to finish their 13-page applications. The net result is a loss of affordable housing run by small landlording businesses, plus despair in many Massachusetts homes.
Fair housing advocates are pushing substantial changes to the state’s Lead Law which, they say, has failed to keep children safe from poisoning and created “rampant” discrimination against renters with young children.
A landlord who takes and passes our test will contribute to renter wellbeing, be responsible when no one is looking and avoid problems – and receive recognition for their hard work, thanks to a nationwide first achieved by MassLandlords.
To solve Boston’s affordable housing crunch, landlords and our representatives like MassLandlords need a seat at the table. Like the local restaurants, we deserve to have input to address the post-pandemic recovery and lingering housing crisis.
The Justice Department said it would appeal the ruling from the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., meaning there won’t likely be any immediate impact on the ban
A bill before the legislature would bring the eviction moratorium roaring back to Massachusetts, but if state officials enforced existing law, none of this nonsense would be necessary.
