A MassHousing program designed to help disabled tenants stay in their homes, and resolve disputes with landlords on their behalf, boasts a nearly 90 percent success rate since its inception in 1998, according to a new report.

The authors of a two year study on MassHousing’s Tenancy Preservation Program found the program cost effective and successful at resolving situations where tenants have stopped paying rent and landlords face a costly eviction proceeding.

The study found "nearly 9 out of 10 non-payment cases [taken on by the program] resulted in the preservation of the existing tenancy or a transition to more appropriate housing."

The program had a budget last year of $1,186,130, and intervened in a total of 499 cases, the majority of them cases involving non-payment of rent or utilities. The report noted that many tenants saved by the program are in fact refered by their landlords.

"Often times when you hear a story about an eviction you hear that the landlord has kicked someone out of their home, and they seem to be focused only on collecting the rent," MassHousing Executive Director Thomas Gleason told Banker & Tradesman. "But with a functioning system like we have in Massachusetts, a landlord can refer someone into the program to get the eviction postponed and then get the payments coming back in. Its actually a cost effective thing for the landlords because continuing with the eviction process is going to cost more and more money and then they are going to have put the unit back on the market, which is an additional cost."