Tenants, landlords affected by Senate’s anti-eviction amendment
Photo | Courtesy of Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Massachusetts State House
Judges would be instructed to dismiss an eviction claim for failure to pay rent after state aid fully reimburses a landlord, while tenants could only get eviction cases paused if they seek financial assistance "in good faith" under a budget rider the Senate approved Tuesday.
Senators voted to adjust a pandemic-era eviction prevention program that both branches are seeking to make permanent in their fiscal year 2024 budgets. That program, known as Chapter 257, requires eviction cases for nonpayment of rent to be paused if a tenant has a pending application for rental assistance through a program such as the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT).
The budget amendment, filed by Housing Committee Co-chair Sen. Lydia Edwards, would keep that mandatory pause in place and add language with a few new requirements that the Boston Democrat said would "make sure [the program is] a true ability to have a second chance."
Courts would be required to notify the state of any suspended eviction cases so officials could "expedite" a pending aid application, and for a tenant to get the case they face paused, their application for aid would need to be "made in good faith."
"We don't want this to be seen as a lifeline that people use as an excuse not to pay their rent or as an attempt to avoid any consequences. A good-faith effort is what we're requiring," Edwards told her colleagues.
If a tenant receives the emergency rental aid they sought and the "full amount" is paid to a landlord, the courts would then need to dismiss the landlord's eviction claim. Tenants could also later petition to seal the court record, a move that would prevent a prior eviction case from affecting their future attempts to secure housing.
"This is a huge win for many people," Edwards, who according to a Boston Globe database is a homeowner who also owns rental property, said. "This is ending the sentence and ending that horrible, painful moment for a lot of people."
The House-approved fiscal 2024 budget would also revive and make permanent the Chapter 257 program that expired March 31, but it does not include the "good faith" application language, the state notification requirement, nor the measure calling for cases to be dismissed once a landlord is repaid with state aid.
House-Senate negotiators will need to decide whether to include the Senate-backed changes or drop them from the final budget bill they will craft for Gov. Maura Healey's review.
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