Will Massachusetts do enough to limit evictions?
A federal freeze on most evictions enacted last year is scheduled to expire July 31, after the Biden administration extended the date by a month. The moratorium, put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in September, was the only tool keeping millions of tenants in their homes. Many of them lost jobs during the coronavirus pandemic and had fallen months behind on their rent. Landlords successfully challenged the order in court, arguing they also had bills to pay. They pointed out that tenants could access more than $45 billion in federal money set aside to help pay rents and related expenses. Advocates for tenants say the distribution of the money has been slow and that more time is needed to distribute it and repay landlords. Without an extension, they feared a spike in evictions and lawsuits seeking to boot out tenants who are behind on their rents. As of June 7, roughly 3.2 million people in the U.S. said they face eviction in the next two months, according to the U.S. Census Bureaus Household Pulse Survey. The survey measures the social and economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic every two weeks through online responses from a representative sample of U.S. households. Massachusetts is one of several states that enacted a moratorium last year halting eviction proceedings due to the pandemic. The states pause on evictions expired on October 17, 2020, at which point the CDC moratorium became effective in Massachusetts. A bill signed into law by Republican Gov. Charlie Baker earlier this month also aims to help prevent evictions in cases where tenants are unable to pay rent due to COVID-19-related financial hardship until April, 2022. When the state moratorium on evictions and foreclosures expired, Gov. Charlie Baker outlined a $171 million plan to increase rental assistance and help landlords negotiate with tenants. While much of that money has been spent, an additional nearly $440 million in federal money was set aside in December for rental assistance in Massachusetts and more was expected through the American Rescue Plan Act. Much of the federal aid remains. The new law signed by Baker this month also includes provisions aimed at helping tenants facing possible eviction understand their legal options. The law requires that landlords notifying tenants to leave a dwelling for nonpayment of rent also provide a form explaining the notice is not the same as an eviction and that tenants dont immediately have to leave the unit. The same law signed by Baker this month also includes protections for tenants in court. The law continues hardship protections to those facing eviction by continuing the court practice of offering temporary continuances to tenants who have filed applications for rental assistance. The law also requires that the form landlords must give to tenants when they notify them to leave because of nonpayment of rent must also include information on rental assistance programs, trial court rules and relevant federal or state legal restrictions on residential evictions. Massachusetts has long had one of the countrys tightest rental housing markets, driven in part by a strong economy and a shortage of affordable housing, although the pandemic put a dent in rising rents at a time when a vast numbers of college students stayed home to take classes remotely. As of May, the median monthly rent in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton area had fallen 3.8% over the last year to $2,400, according to a report released June 16 by Realtor.com. Median rent for a two-bedroom apartment was $2,650. The report found that Boston was just one of two metro areas  along with Seattle  where rents need another 5% to 6% to reach the previous peaks. It isnt clear how much homelessness will increase in Massachusetts. One indication of the scope of the problem is census data showing 17,387 state residents are concerned that they could very likely be evicted over the next two months. Another 38,032 say they are somewhat likely to be evicted over the next two months.