Letter from the Executive Director for May 2026: Rent Control Briefs Submitted

Many people view us as highly competent at MassLandlords. While this is true, we will not be successful in the statewide ballot fight against rent control but for your generous support of dollars and time. The sprint to submit amicus briefs is case in point.

I toured Massachusetts from November through January to collect funds from members for litigation. Every hour I spoke, we raised another $10,000. It was a huge success! We hired attorneys very experienced in ballot matters, and in rent control in particular. Tad Heuer, Andrew London and Kevin Chen at Foley Hoag came up with what I think ought to be the winning argument against rent control. We discuss our amicus brief at length in this edition. They worked on it for months.

But MassLandlords and the plaintiffs on the case were not precisely the plaintiffs I’d have wanted to make the strongest possible argument. In 1998, the Supreme Judicial Court struck down a ballot question that would have eliminated the tolls on the Mass Pike. It was unconstitutional, they ruled, because it took away a lender’s security interest and did not compensate them. So I wanted a multifamily lender whose security interest would be at risk under rent control.

Nine days before briefs were due, we found this lender. John Latino, President and CEO of Millbury National Bank, was identified by MassLandlords Board member Michele Kasabula as potentially willing to come forward. We had to find him his own counsel. We had to brief the counsel on the arguments and John’s position. And we had to get John on affidavit. Work that ought to have covered weeks was completed in an incredibly compressed amount of time. I am extremely grateful to Attorney Kevin Powers who agreed to take on this matter and who got it all done with an hour to spare. He worked through the night.

If litigation fails, we are going to need engagement like this from members statewide. Please identify your skills and background to us on our volunteer form. Also, I will likely ask the Board of Directors for a special assessment of 3% of gross rents for one month only. Please set aside this amount. We will have to spend a lot of money to explain to people the harmful unintended consequences of rent control that the judges can now see plainly before them in all our briefs.

Meanwhile we still have to keep the wheels on the bus. I attended my first meeting of the Governor’s Advisory Committee for the Lead Poisoning Prevention Program as President of MRHA (although I was not recognized as such; we’re working on it). I attended another post-litigation meet-and-greet with EOHLC and have asked for help unblocking stuck RAFT applications. And I asked one of the divisions of the housing court for help with a procedural matter affecting a huge number of property owners.

The call to action is please join as a member, encourage others to join, become a property rights supporter or increase your level of support.

Sincerely,

Doug

Executive Director

MassLandlords, Inc.