Gov. Charlie Baker signs housing bill granting moratorium on evictions and foreclosures during COVID-19

Coronavirus: Gov. Charlie Baker signs housing bill granting moratorium on evictions and foreclosures during COVID-19

Updated Apr 21, 2020; Posted Apr 20, 2020 

By Steph Solis | ssolis@masslive.com 

 

Gov. Charlie Baker signed a bill on Monday that bars evictions and foreclosures from moving forward in Massachusetts until after the COVID-19 state of emergency is lifted, preventing renters and homeowners across the state from being forced out of their homes.

The bill imposes a temporary ban on landlords issuing a notice to quit, which starts the eviction process. It also bars courts from issuing executions, orders that a sheriff or constable could enforce to force someone to move out, and pauses foreclosures.

The Legislature passed the bill, H.4647, on Friday after weeks of negotiations. Rep. Shawn Dooley, who had blocked the bill’s passage on Thursday due to concerns about how the bill would affect landlords, but he relented by Friday.

“This legislation is crucial for public health,” Andrea M. Park, an attorney at Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, said in a statement. “If we are going to stay home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, we must all have a home to stay in.”

The moratorium will last for 120 or 45 days after Baker lifts the state of emergency, according to the bill.

Although the courts were closed during the state of emergency, that didn’t entirely stop evictions or foreclosures. Landlords could continue to file eviction cases, and in some cases, judges were still granting executions.

More than 700 cases have been filed against renters in housing courts and district courts since March 16, Park told MassLive last week.

The Greater Boston Real Estate Board wanted Baker to propose an amendment to remove a temporary ban on landlords issuing notices to quit. CEO Gregory Vasil told the State House News Service the notices are “a key part of, but preliminary, any legal action.”

Housing advocates, however, said those notices could pressure renters to leave, potentially endangering them in the middle of a pandemic.

Georgia Katsoulomitis, MLRI’s executive director, said the legislation ensures that thousands of renters and families will stay home and avoid contracting the coronavirus.

“Enacting a moratorium makes good sense in both the short- and long-term — and hopefully there is a bigger lesson to be learned: Access to safe and affordable housing is (or should be) a basic human right,” Katsoulomitis said in a statement. “While we still have a long way to go to achieve that goal, the COVID-19 crisis has brought to light just how critical access to housing is to a fair, just, safe and strong society.”