Research shows rent control hurts the value of all property in a city, and the way state school aid is distributed means other communities will lose some of their education funding if rent control returns.
Landlords and developers got two wins in the last 30 days in the fight to stop tenant “right of first refusal” or “TOPA” laws: one on Beacon Hill and the other in a Middlesex County Courtroom.
In case you missed it, your unvented gas stove may be slowly debilitating you and your customers. Fortunately, replacements like induction cooktops are both cheap and more effective.
Analyzing every Massachusetts eviction case since April 2019 suggests we have a pathway to eviction-free housing with a few key reforms to the commonwealth’s Housing Court system.
We can fix home prices dramatically quickly and make a dent in climate change, too. To prove the point, come with me for a walk through a typical three-decker, and bring your calculator.
Time and again people have advocated to bring rent control back. With the housing crisis back to where it was before the pandemic, they will do it again if we are not responsive.
We are asking the court to order DHCD release records on rental assistance applications, so we can see whether problems in the application process discriminated against renters of color and their landlords.
As part of the ongoing saga to retrofit my Worcester three-decker to be zero-emission, I recently replaced two gas water heaters with heat pump water heaters. If you haven’t heard of these, grab your loofah, you’re in for some fun.
The Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development has denied MassLandlords’ request to see where rental assistance was spent, or where applications were denied. The result is that $400 million of our public funds were spent in secret, with no public oversight. Landlords should be outraged.
Although benign-sounding, the two bills would literally destroy rental housing through their provisions for “small amounts of demolition,” among other draconian measures.
I understand why elected officials steer toward to the siren song of eviction moratoria. But they don’t provide long-term protection, don’t sustain our limited rental housing supply and are not legal.
Before the pandemic, we had a housing crisis. After the pandemic’s first three waves, it seems things are still bad. And any landlord or property manager trying to lease up an apartment right now is watching that first-hand.
Massachusetts has set aside roughly $1 billion for pandemic rental assistance. But roughly half of applicants aren’t able to finish their 13-page applications. The net result is a loss of affordable housing run by small landlording businesses, plus despair in many Massachusetts homes.
A landlord who takes and passes our test will contribute to renter wellbeing, be responsible when no one is looking and avoid problems – and receive recognition for their hard work, thanks to a nationwide first achieved by MassLandlords.
A bill before the legislature would bring the eviction moratorium roaring back to Massachusetts, but if state officials enforced existing law, none of this nonsense would be necessary.
In our mission to create better, low-carbon rental housing, MassLandlords staff and members are evaluating heat pumps retrofits in multifamily properties. While heat pumps show promise, it’s not clear how and when housing providers should retrofit.
The Certified Massachusetts Landlord is a nationwide first. And it can be a differentiator for housing providers statewide seeking good tenants. And it will be a differentiator for MassLandlords in our policy advocacy.
MassLandlords has read and analyzed 3,984 cases filed between Oct. 19, when the state eviction moratorium lifted, and Dec. 18, 2020. This is what we found.
A federal eviction moratorium still applies to Massachusetts residential real estate, but now that the different state moratorium is over, what do we know about the impact of such a policy? At first glance, it looks to have been unnecessary or even harmful.
MassLandlords turned some heads earlier this spring when our board of directors endorsed Voter Choice for Massachusetts’ Ranked Choice Voting ballot initiative. Yes, we are pushing hard for an initiative that progressive anti-property zealots are supporting. No, we’re not wrong to do so.
