Letter from the Executive Director for September 2015

I have an exciting new opportunity to tell you about.

As many of you know, we have a seat on the Massachusetts Senate Special Commission on Housing. The homelessness subgroup has been meeting regularly and we intend to pilot a new program.

The program is inspired by this one simple fact: On any given day in Massachusetts, private landlords have enough vacant units to take all of the Commonwealth's homeless families out of shelter. But on average, these families stay in shelter for ten months. The cost to the Commonwealth and to these families is staggering.

The overwhelming majority of homeless families would make good tenants. But the perception of risk makes it difficult for these families to secure housing with good landlords. So we have worked with the tenant advocates to create a new program, based on what's being done in Seattle, Oregon, and several other places.

Under this program, any landlord who takes a homeless family out of shelter would receive the following guarantee:

• $5,000 insurance for any unpaid rent
• Equivalently large insurance in case of property damage, depending on region
• $750 insurance for attorney's fees in the event of an eviction
• Landlords could call a new state-funded landlord adviser for assistance should problems arise (e.g., noise and nuisance, unauthorized residents, property cleanliness, etc.)

This insurance program would stack with existing subsidies. For instance, HomeBASE, MRVP or Section 8 would still be used to help the tenant afford the apartment.

The intent of the insurance is to eliminate the appearance of risk for tenants who have unstable housing histories and/or minor CORI's. (Tenants with a history of serious crime would not be eligible for the program.) Landlords would retain the final say on whether a tenant qualifies for an apartment. There would be no change to the landlord's right to evict.

This would be a landmark program. It would shift the tone in the state toward recognizing the costs and risks landlords face in the rare "worst case" eviction scenario. It would give potentially thousands of children the kind of stable home they deserve. It would reduce the Commonwealth's cost to shelter a family.

The next step is to gauge landlord interest.  Would you maybe participate in this program? 

Spread the word! All landlords are welcome to provide feedback.

Sincerely,
Doug Quattrochi
Executive Director
C: 617-285-7255