Walsh signs ordinance aimed at housing stability

Mayor Martin Walsh signed the Housing Stability Notification Act Thursday during a virtual meeting with housing advicates and city councillors.

Mayor Martin Walsh signed an ordinance today that requires landlord to provide basic information about tenant rights and resources when they file a notice to quit to residents.The Housing Stability Notification Act was signed during a virtual meeting as city councillors and other officials looked on.

Landlords must notify the city’s Office of Housing Stability about their evictions or lease non-renewals. Tenants can file a complaint to the city’s Office of Fair Housing and Equity if landlords don’t comply.

“I want to thank members of the City Council for all of their support and leadership on this,” Walsh said. “We want to make sure renters and homeowners know which resources are available to them through our Office of Housing Stability and the Boston Home Center.”

“The most important thing here is keeping people in their homes, which is something many of you in the Office of Housing Stability have been addressing long before the pandemic.”

According to the most recent Census data, 65 percent of Boston households are renters and many struggle to pay rent due to lost wages or lose jobs during the pandemic. Statewide, only 8 percent of tenants have access to legal representation in eviction actions while more than 70 percent of landlords are represented, according to Walsh. A state moratorium on evictions ended last month, but the Centers for Disease Control offers protection at the federal level, but only through the end of the year.

“Covid numbers in the city are going in the wrong direction and the pandemic is going to stay with us,” Walsh noted. “Residents will continue to face hardships and we must do all we can to support all of our residents.”

Provisions outlined in the ordinance would not apply to a few specific types of units: rental units in any hospital, skilled nursing facility or health facility; and units in a nonprofit facility that has the primary purpose of providing short term treatment, assistance or therapy for alcohol, drug or other substance abuse.

Enforcement of the ordinance will be received and investigated by the city’s Office of Fair Housing and Equity and enforced by Dion Irish, Commissioner of Inspectional Service.


Subscribe to the Dorchester Reporter