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The Greater Boston Real Estate Board, NAIOP Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors and the Home Builders and Remodelers Association are all united in their opposition to a bill that would significantly extend the state’s eviction moratorium.

“This bill would paralyze the real estate industry, a vital part of the Massachusetts economy, and further exacerbate the state’s longstanding housing crisis. It will have a lasting negative impact that will extend far beyond the timeline outlined in the legislation,” the coalition wrote in a new letter outlining their opposition.

Rep. Kevin Honan, who co-chairs the Housing Committee, joined with Rep. Mike Connolly and Sen. Patricia Jehlen to file legislation that would automatically extend the moratorium until one year after the state of emergency ends, pause rent increases, and make funding available to small landlords affected by the policies. As many as 20,000 eviction petitions could be filed when the state’s moratorium expires on Aug. 18.

Their bill (HD.5166), which has nearly 90 co-sponsors in the two branches, was reported from the Rules Committee to the Housing Committee on Thursday, but with just two weeks until the end of formal sessions their passage could represent a heavy lift for proponents given the known opposition to such measures of some lawmakers and the strong criticism from Realtors.

Much of the real estate and lending industries oppose it in its current form, although most industry leaders have described the potential for a huge wave of evictions as an urgent problem. Their core criticisms center on provisions that would allow any renter or residential mortgage borrower to stop paying their landlord or lender during the moratorium, on the assumption that such an action would be due to COVID-19 or its economic fallout. That provision could cause lenders to refuse to issue mortgages to all homebuyers in the state, the Massachusetts Mortgage Banker’s Association warned last week. Landlord groups say the bill does not share the pain created by efforts to prevent an “eviction tsunami” on Aug. 18 equally and places it all on landlords’ backs.

The groups said that the April law was passed after nearly a month of discussions, and they believe that if the governor and legislature believe an extension is necessary it can be best managed through continued dialogue among Beacon Hill’s leadership.

“We do not believe that additional legislative action is required to address housing concerns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. If it is necessary to extend the protections of the emergency housing law, Chapter 65 of the Acts of 2020 already contains a mechanism to do so, rendering HD.5166 and SD.2992 unnecessary,” the groups said.

Attorney General Maura Healey and several leading Democratic lawmakers on Beacon Hill urged Gov. Charlie Baker to extend the state’s existing eviction freeze, which he is allowed to do in 90-day increments during the coronavirus state of emergency.

Real Estate Groups Unite Against Eviction Freeze Extension

by State House News Service time to read: 2 min
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