Rent Hike Limits Pitched As Complement to Housing Production Push
Hundreds of tenants from across Massachusetts descended on Beacon Hill Tuesday to show their support for perennial rent stabilization legislation.
Real Estate Protests, Spilka Stands By Broker Fee Law
The Small Property Owners Association pulled together a mix of landlords, brokers and real estate agents outside the State House to protest the state’s new ban on tenant-paid apartment broker fees.
Industry Attacks Tenant Right-to-Purchase Language in Housing Bill
House of Representatives leaders didn’t just add several billion dollars of additional housing funding to Gov. Maura Healey’s big bonding-and-policy bill earlier this month. They also added a measure anathema to real estate trade groups.
Crush of Testimony Reflects Seriousness of Housing Crisis
The Healey administration’s plan to supercharge...
Rent Control Supporters Lifted by AG’s Ruling
Real estate groups say they will appeal Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s certification of a rent control ballot question.
Letter to the Editor: Reviving Chapter 257 Will Imperil Small Landlords
Instead of extending outdated policies, as Banker & Tradesman called for in a recent editorial, we should increase housing production and create needs-based rental aid programs, where property owners receive the funds directly.
Developers Are Already Passing on Boston. Don’t Let the Mayor Make It Worse
Boston’s rent control proposal isn’t just about imposing a rental cap. It’s a government takeover of the private housing industry – something sure to drive investment far away from Massachusetts.
Letter to the Editor: Keep Rent Control Buried in the Cemetery of Failed Ideas
Sadly, the proponents of rent control insist upon unearthing a long-buried corpse, only to put lipstick on it in the name of “innovation.”
This Month in History: Rent Control Abolished
A statewide ballot initiative spearheaded by Cambridge landlords did what years of local efforts couldn’t on Election Day in 1994: End decades of rent control in Boston, Cambridge and Brookline.
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.
Letter to the Editor: Don’t Sugarcoat the Bitter Truth About TOPA
The Small Property Owners Association disputes the TOPA Coalition’s duplicitous defense of TOPA as a “good housing policy” in its June 19 column in Banker & Tradesman.
TOPA Is Good Housing Policy
Misinformation has been spreading about what the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act would do. Here are the facts, and the many places it’s been refined with real estate industry feedback.
New Tenant Right-to-Purchase Bill Heard on Beacon Hill
After Gov. Charlie Baker vetoed the state legislature’s previous attempt last year to guarantee apartment tenants the right to purchase the building they’re living in, senators and representatives are back with a revised bill they say addresses some industry concerns.
Don’t Poison Rental Aid Fixes
Massachusetts is again considering another eviction moratorium, much to the frustration of real estate industry groups. While the bill is well-intentioned and some aspects could fix key problems, it will send the wrong message to tenants and poison its own efforts to address a building crisis.
Real Estate Rails Against New Eviction Freeze Bill
Real estate industry leaders and landlords lined up in opposition to a bill on Beacon Hill that would revive the state eviction moratorium, arguing that the hundreds of millions of dollars that remain available in rental aid prevent any need for the temporary ban.
