How to File Written Testimony Against Rent Cancellation 191 H.4878 HD.5166 S.2831 SD.2992
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The rent cancellation bills have a hearing scheduled for Tuesday July 28. Every landlord must provide written testimony against these bills. We have written about these bills before:
- Rent Cancellation bills 191 HD.5166, SD.2992
- Open Letter re: H.4878 HD.5166 Rent Cancellation
- Board of Directors Statement on Eviction Moratorium, Rent Cancellation
Please use these talking points to craft a custom message opposed. Example below.
Remember most legislators don’t care about mom and pop housing providers. Renters outnumber landlords ten to one. Renter advocates outspend landlords a thousand to one. We tend to offer only small amounts of votes and campaign contributions by comparison. Tell the legislators how their bills will make it harder for renters and municipalities.
Written Testimony Template
Email address:
landlord@example.com
Full name:
Given_Name Family_Name
Organization:
Happy Farm Estates, LLC
Tell them your business name or "sole proprietor." MassLandlords staff will file as "MassLandlords".
Phone Number:
555-123-4567
You must give real contact information or your testimony may be invalidated. You can give a business number. If you do not already have a publicly searchable phone number and do not want to list your phone, create a number for free at Google Voice. If they are trying to discourage you from testifying, don't let them. Remember as well that most cell phones now have a built-in "block number" feature and that the law prohibits sending spam SMS.
Testimony on H4878/S2831:
I’m a constituent of (Representative Name) and (Senator Name) and I strongly oppose 191 H.4878 HD.5166 S.2831 SD.2992 “An Act to guarantee housing stability during the COVID-19 emergency and recovery”.
(Use the "Find My Legislator" link to customize your testimony for your Rep and Senator.)
(Insert a custom message here about how your renters/customers will be impacted:
in addition to some of our talking points from the links above, consider focusing on and detailing one of the following:
- You cannot afford to rent apartments, meaning less housing choice for new residents;
- You will increase your screening criteria, making it tougher for bad credit, minor criminal, and other marginal applications to qualify for housing;
- You cannot afford to maintain your buildings, making for unsightly or unsafe conditions until you can sell;
- You have been a good landlord but you are sick of being unappreciated, you are going to pause, retire, or quit if they pass this; or
- A nonprofit that buys your building will pay no real estate tax, which if municipal levies remain fixed, will cause taxes to go up on all single family owners.)
Finally, let me say how inefficient and confusing it is for bills to be assigned both a docket number and a branch number. Please amend the Joint Rules of the Senate and House of Representatives to require each branch to maintain the original docket number as the bill number until the bill has been revised or conferenced.
I urge you to send these bills to study, they should not pass. Please support the alternative, a "Fair and Equal Housing Guarantee via Surety Bonds."
(Yes, the Commonwealth really is using google sheets to collect and manage testimony.) Deadline: 9am Tuesday July 28, 2020. If you file between 9am and 12pm, as they say you can, they are less likely to read it. File it before the hearing starts.
MassLandlords Testimony
We will be filing all of our talking points ourselves as MassLandlords. There is no need to copy-paste our entire talking points. Craft a custom message from you to your legislators. A unique message is more likely to be read.
