Own your present. Empower your future.

Its been an eventful week for MAR’s advocacy priorities, from extending key pandemic policies to the first steps in the FY2023 budget.   Going Remote   One week after the House passed its version of the latest pandemic response bill (H.4345), the Senate passed its own version. Both bills provide additional funding for face masks, vaccines, and COVID testing. They also extend two pandemic-related policies we’ve been advocating for – remote online notarization and remote town meetings. Though the bills vary slightly, especially in funding for the aforementioned COVID measures, each contains the policy pieces we support. Next up, a conference committee will iron out the details and the bill will be passed along to the Governor for his review and likely enactment.  Budget Season The FY23 budget deliberations started this week with the filing of the Governor’s budget proposal. Governor Baker’s…

The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) announced some impending policy changes for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) and the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) program. These changes will go live on January 1, 2022, and are being made to preserve the state’s resources as long as possible, direct funds to the most vulnerable households that have not yet been assisted by programs, and streamline processes at the Regional Administering Agencies (RAAs). 1. Require at least one month’s arrearage (unless moving due to health/safety crisis, overcrowding, doubled up, etc.) to get RAFT or ERAP stipends: Both RAFT and ERAP will require households to have at least one month of rental arrears before awards of rental stipends. Please know households can still access funds upstream of court. They will only need an arrears notice, not a summons or Notice to…

The Boston eviction moratorium, enacted on August 31, 2021, five days after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal eviction moratorium, was struck down by a Massachusetts Housing Court judge yesterday.   The decision examines the powers of the Boston Public Health Commission and concludes that the eviction moratorium represents an unlawful overreach, despite the great public interest in preventing the spread of COVID-19.   It includes a compelling analogy to Chapter 40B, a law MAR was instrumental in protecting, which enables local Zoning Boards of Appeals to approve affordable housing developments under flexible rules if at least 20-25% of the units have long-term affordability restrictions. Judge Bagdoian writes:  This Court perceives great mischief in allowing a municipality or one of its agencies to exceed its power, even for compelling reasons. In the current situation, the City of Boston may cite to the threat of COVID as the…

As the Delta variant continues to cause COVID-19 cases, some Massachusetts cities and towns are implementing their own mask requirements for public indoor spaces. It’s a good idea to check the various communities you work in before hosting or attending an open house. Click here to view a list of communities that have implemented mask policies. Visit a community’s website for more information on any mask policy.

On August 31, the City of Boston joined the cities of Somerville and Malden in issuing its own local eviction moratorium. All three local moratoriums go beyond the now terminated CDC moratorium, prohibiting serving notice on residents regardless of COVID impacts. The Somerville and Boston moratoriums also restrict owner access to units, requiring notice to tenants 48-hours in advance and masks to be worn at all times during access. The moratoriums will remain in place until rescinded by their respective health commissions.

Q: May a landlord use COVID vaccination status in screening prospective tenants? A: While vaccination status itself is not a protected class, the reason an individual is unvaccinated may be because of a protected characteristic, such as children under the age of 12 or individuals with disabilities. A landlord wanting to use vaccination status as a screening tool would need to be prepared to allow exemptions to the policy in these types of situations and should be advised to work closely with an attorney in doing so. Landlords looking to prevent the spread of COVID in their properties may instead want to consider policies for common areas of the building, such as frequent sanitization, asking tenants to wear masks, and avoid congregating in large groups. Q: What happens now that the Supreme Court struck down the CDC Eviction Moratorium?…

On August 26th, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion lifting the CDC moratorium that had recently been extended to October 3rd. The Supreme Court reasoned that the CDC lacked authority to issue the moratorium, and any further extension or similar rule would have to be enacted by Congress. Legal challenge of the CDC moratorium was led by the Alabama and Georgia Associations of REALTORS® with assistance from the National Association of REALTORS®.  The decision means that Massachusetts courts will now be able to issue final execution orders in eviction cases regardless of COVID-19 impacts. However, eviction cases for tenants with pending rental assistance applications will continue to be paused until applications are resolved.  Eviction filings remain at low levels because Massachusetts is a national leader in distributing rental assistance funds through the Eviction Diversion Initiative. MAR will continue its advocacy on this issue and provide further updates should policies continue to change. 

On August 3rd, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) extended the federal eviction moratorium until October 3rd. The extension included one significant change — the moratorium now applies only to counties experiencing substantial or high community transmission levels of COVID-19 as determined by the CDC’s COVID data tracker. This narrowing of the moratorium’s application is directly related to a legal challenge led by the Alabama and Georgia Associations of Realtors® with assistance from NAR. They are continuing their suit, now challenging the extension.  Currently in Massachusetts, 13 of 14 counties are covered by the moratorium (all but Hampshire county), but the CDC data tracker updates weekly, so that can change. Courts in counties that are covered by the moratorium will continue to accept and process eviction cases. The only difference under the new moratorium extension is that courts in counties with moderate or low transmission rates will now be able to issue final execution orders. The specific issuing and…

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YWltcyUzQyUyRnRkJTNFJTBBJTIwJTIwJTNDJTJGdHIlM0UlMEElM0MlMkZ0YWJsZSUzRSUwQSUwQSUzQyUyRmJvZHklM0UlMEElM0MlMkZodG1sJTNF

On May 17, 2021, the Baker-Polito Administration announced the final stage of reopening Massachusetts. As of May 29, 2021, all industry restrictions and capacity limitations will be rescinded. The Department of Public Health will be issuing updated guidance mirroring that from the Centers for Disease Control. The wearing of face coverings will still be required in some settings, such as public transportation, healthcare settings, and schools. Additionally, private businesses may continue to require employees and patrons to wear face coverings. As we move into this final phase of reopening, REALTORS® should continue to work closely with their clients to develop showing and open house strategies that the client is comfortable with. Sellers may choose to continue to require individuals viewing the property to wear face coverings and may restrict the number of people in the property at any given time.…