EA shelter, public housing, rent control, access to counsel, and tenant opportunity to purchase
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The Emergency Assistance (EA) shelter system has taken center stage in recent weeks, as the influx of new people into the Commonwealth has come up against our affordable housing crisis.
The Healey Administration's plan to implement a waiting list for EA shelter went into effect last Thursday, when the number of families in shelter went above 7,500. MLRI and our partners have been advocating for the continuation of the state's "right to shelter" policy and for systemic solutions that will ensure families have a place to sleep while easing the burden on the EA shelter system.
That work has included administrative and budget advocacy, a rally and press conference in front of the State House, and the release of recommendations for the shelter system. We've also remained focused on our ongoing efforts for housing justice, including bills for access to counsel and local options on rent control and tenant opportunity to purchase.
Andrea Park, Kelly Turley of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, and Mark Martinez at a rally in front of the State House on October 31, 2023.
Recommendations for moving beyond the shelter emergency
MLRI joined with the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless (MCH), the Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA), and 50+ organizations across Massachusetts to provide recommendations to the Administration and the Legislature to help alleviate the acute Emergency Assistance (EA) shelter capacity crisis while upholding the safety, dignity, and stability of families most in need.
The recommendations were guided by the Moving Beyond the Emergency Working Group, which was first convened by MCH, MLRI, and CHAPA in early August to bring together advocates, providers, families, faith community members, and other stakeholders to provide recommendations and resources to help the Commonwealth address the current family homelessness crisis, uphold the right to shelter, and to chart a path forward towards greater service coordination, housing stability, and homelessness prevention.
The recommendations come in three categories:
- Expanding available services for newly-arrived immigrant families and improve service coordination for all families experiencing homelessness
- Helping families swiftly move out of Emergency Assistance and other temporary shelter programs into permanent affordable housing
- Strengthening homelessness prevention resources to ensure that more families and individuals can maintain housing stability
Public housing
The Mass Union of Public Housing Tenants had their fall convention, where MLRI and legal services attorneys did workshops on grievance hearings and redevelopment in public housing. The Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities, Ed Augustus, spoke at the convention, saying:
"As we see projects moving forward with private developers, we want to make sure tenants' voices are heard, and that tenants are at the table from the beginning and provided with technical assistance so that you are not outgunned."
Access to counsel
On November 13, the Access to Counsel Coalition sent a letter to Governor Healey and Secretary Gorzkowicz of the Executive Office of Administration and Finance asking for $7 million in the FY25 budget to phase in a statewide Access to Counsel Program.
There are two Access to Counsel bills this session, both of which have been heard in committee and enjoy broad support: S.864 and H.1731. These bills provide tenants and owner-occupants whose incomes are below 80% of Area Median Income with full legal representation in the eviction process.
Yvette Moore of Boston and Denise Perrault of Ayer testify in support of An Act to guarantee a tenant’s first right of refusal.
The Tenant Opportunity to Purchase (TOPA) Enabling Act would allow cities and towns the local option of providing tenants in multi-family buildings the right to match a third-party offer when their homes are being sold. Tenants can designate their rights to a non-profit or local housing authority, or partner with an affordable housing purchaser.
One of the tenants testifying in support of TOPA, Denise Perrault, is a member of the Devenscrest Tenant Association Board. The Devenscrest Tenant Association was established in 2021 in response to the sale of over 100 homes in Ayer to an out-of-state developer who planned to evict all the tenants, renovate the units, and double the rents. As Denise said in her testimony,
“We have been fighting hard against evictions for over two years. If TOPA had been in place, we could have saved our homes as affordable for the long term."
The Rent Control Enabling Act ends the statewide ban on rent control, empowering cities and towns to enact the effective rent stabilization and just cause eviction protections needed at the local level. Before the hearing, MLRI joined rent control supporters from across the Commonwealth for a rally in front of the State House.
MLRI Housing Staff Attorney, Mark Martinez, testified in support of the bill, saying:
"There are many pieces to housing justice, but there is only one policy that provides immediate protection to renters, and that is rent control."
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