At State House Hearing on Rent Stabilization, Tenants from Across Massachusetts Demand Local Limits on Excessive Rent Hikes
BOSTON — As out-of-control housing costs driven by corporate real estate investors make it impossible for hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts residents to make ends meet, local communities are demanding action from state legislators.
On Tuesday, hundreds of tenants — travelling from dozens of communities across the state — rallied and marched through the halls of the State House before a hearing on legislation that would allow cities and towns in Massachusetts to limit rent increases to the rate of inflation, with a cap at 5%.
“I had to move multiple times growing up because of rent increases, and every time we were forced to leave it felt like walking into the unknown. Would I be near my friends, would I have my own room, would there be mice? Now, as a mother, I can’t find affordable, dignified, safe housing for my son and I. I don’t want to put my child through that,” said Envy Thomas, a Springfield tenant and mother who rode a bus to the State House to share her story. “Because we have no rent control in this state, even if I were to move into a place I can afford today, it doesn’t mean I can set down roots. There is no security in an affordable apartment today, because tomorrow the rent can go up $500 or more. Young people are leaving Massachusetts and it’s no wonder why: we can’t afford to live here. We need rent control now!”
State and municipal elected officials from communities including Boston, Easthampton, Lawrence, Lynn, Medford, Revere, Somerville, Springfield, and Worcester all testified in support of the municipal local option legislation.
“Imagine if families could stay rooted in their communities, instead of getting pushed out by rent hikes they can’t control. Imagine if cities had the legal power to do what we already know works: stabilize rent and stop displacement,” said Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne. “Let’s demand rent control, just cause eviction, and real action to keep people housed.”
“It’s been 112 years since the Bread and Roses Strike brought humanity and dignity to workers in Massachusetts and across the country, but the 1994 ban on rent control in our state is forcing workers back to long hours and no weekends in order to afford their rent,” said Lawrence City Councilor Celina Reyes. “It is time to give municipalities like mine the authority to make decisions about how to address the housing crisis.”
“This bill is about doing away with the power dynamic that, by virtue of law, discourages working people from choosing if rent control is right for their community,” said Revere City Councilor Juan Pablo Jaramillo. “Multi-million dollar hedge funds and corporations have the deep pockets and the time to come into Boston and lobby about how rent control is not part of the solution. That is a privilege not afforded to my constituents — it’s time to level the playing field for working people.”
Tenants and elected officials were joined by dozens of union workers and leaders, homeowners, landlords, clergy members, and housing and public health experts to testify before the legislature’s Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government in support of S.1447, An Act enabling cities and towns to stabilize rents and protect tenants. Buses brought local residents to the State House from Western Mass, the North Shore, Central Mass, and the South Coast, and tenants from rural areas, suburbs, and cities across the state told legislators how rent stabilization would help keep them in their homes and communities.
“Our building was purchased by an out-of-state, for-profit company, Hurricane Properties, that immediately increased our rents from 30 to 50 percent, and gave us just around five weeks to respond. Tenants cannot afford this increase, as high as $400/month, and they’re scared. They don’t know where they’ll go if Hurricane Properties follows through with the eviction process,” said Anne Stengle, an Easthampton tenant. “The owner will not even come to the table to discuss these rent increases with us. We don’t want a big corporation dictating our lives and threatening our friends and families with eviction notices. We want legislators to pass S. 1447 and prevent people in the future from going through this situtation.”
“Rent control is good for tenants. It's good for immigrants. It's good for people who are not immigrants. It's good for working class and lower-income people of ALL backgrounds. It's good for our communities. It's good for our health. It's good for our economy. It's even good for local small scale landlords,” said Celly de la Cruz, a Lynn tenant and organizer with Lynn United for Change. “The only people it is not good for? The corporate real estate developers, millionaire landlords, and people looking to make fast money without doing any real work by exploiting our communities.”
“Rent stabilization is critical because rents are going up so quickly, and people need relief immediately,” said Annie Gordon, a resident of the Fairlawn Estates in Mattapan, which recently fought back rent hikes as high as 50%. “Having lived at Fairlawn for 50 years, I was there when we had rent control up until 1994, and I saw the stability it created for my community and the city. Then, after it was banned, I saw huge rent increases, apartments that weren’t well maintained, stress, fear, homelessness, and evictions. This is happening all over Massachusetts.”
“Our intake line has nearly doubled in the past three months. We’ve had families calling in tears, forced to choose between paying rent or paying for medical care,” said Stephanie Di Dio, Director of Programs at Family Promise Metrowest, a nonprofit serving families who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. “Many are stuck on our waitlist for over 60 days because we simply don’t have the capacity to serve everyone who’s lost their housing due to massive rent increases. This isn’t sustainable. We need to bring balance back to our housing market and to give working families a fighting chance.”
“As Christians, we believe that the fundamental goal of housing should be the creation of community rather than the creation of profit,” said Rev. Isaac Everett of the Emmanuel Church in Boston. “Solving our affordable housing crisis requires diverse approaches that promote mixed-income neighborhoods, incentivize new construction, increase density, and protect residents from gentrification and displacement.”
“CSS has researched and evaluated U.S. rent regulation laws since their inception over 100 years ago, finding over and over again that rent regulation provides stability for tenants and communities, without undermining housing quality or new development,” said Oksana Mironova, Senior Policy Analyst at the Community Service Society of New York.
Background on the Massachusetts Rent Stabilization Campaign
Homes for All Mass, a statewide formation of grassroots housing justice groups, is working with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the Massachusetts Voter Table (MVT), and a broad coalition of 100+ organizations across the state to advance rent stabilization legislation in Massachusetts. The bills, H.2328 & S.1447, would allow cities and towns to stabilize rents by limiting rent increases to the rate of inflation with a cap at 5%. The legislation would also allow cities and towns to protect tenants by banning no-fault evictions and clarifying for tenants and landlords what qualifies as a legal reason to evict. Exemptions would be included for owner-occupied buildings with four or fewer units, as well as new construction for five years. More information on the legislation is available here.