Six Months for RAFT: Another Tenant Falls Through the Cracks for Housing Assistance
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Language barriers, a confusing application process and conflicting information led to trouble for one Fitchburg resident in arrears.
Notice of Annual Meeting 2021: MassLandlords Annual Elections Nov. 29 through Dec. 21, 2021
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Members in good standing must vote online at MassLandlords.net/governance in the 2021 annual election. Nominations will be taken until Nov. 19, 2021.
MassLandlords to Attorney General: Amend Landlord-Tenant Security Deposit Regulations Verbiage
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![The first of three pages in a letter from Attorney Peter Vickery on behalf of MassLandlords to Attorney General Maura Healey. The top of the letter bears the letterhead of Bobrowski and Vickery, LLC, and has contact information for both the law firm and the attorney general. It is titled “Petition to Amend 940 CMR 3.17. The letter reads as follows: Dear Attorney General Healey: On behalf of MassLandlords, Inc., and pursuant to G.L. c. 30A, Section 4, I respectfully petition you to amend 940 CMR 3.17 so as to delete from 3.17 (4) (k) the words “or...otherwise fail to comply with the provisions of M.G.L. c. 186, s. 15B.” By these words, 3.17 (4) (k) imposes treble damages and attorney’s fees for violations of the security-deposit law that the Legislature exempted from these remedies. The statute (G.L. 186 Section 15B) imposes treble damages for violating three specific paragraphs of subsection 6, namely paragraphs (a), (d), and (e): If the lessor or his agent fails to comply with clauses (a), (d), or (e) of subsection 6, the tenant shall be awarded damages in an amount equal to three times the amount of such security deposit or balance thereof to which the tenant is entitled plus interest at the rate of five per cent from the date when such payment became due, together with court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees. G.L. c. 186 section 15B (7). In providing for treble damages and attorney’s fees for these particular violations, the Legislature chose not to impose treble damages for violations of subsection 6(b) and (c), which impose forfeiture as the sole remedy against any landlord who: (b) fails to furnish to the tenant within thirty days after the termination of the occupancy the itemized list of damages, if any, in compliance with the provisions of this section; [or] (c) uses in any lease signed by the tenant any provision which conflicts with any provision of this section and attempts to enforce such provision or attempts to obtain from this tenant or prospective tenant a waiver of any provision of this section. The Legislature chose multiple damages as the remedy for violations of three paragraphs of subsection 6, and forfeiture as the remedy for violations of the other two paragraphs. Letter continues in next image.](https://masslandlords.net/app/uploads/Security-Deposit-Petition-Blurb-Image-1-lic-cc-by-SA-4-MassLandlords-232x300.png "MassLandlords to Attorney General: Amend Landlord-Tenant Security Deposit Regulations Verbiage")
A petition to Attorney General Maura Healey requests that language allowing treble damages for security deposits be removed.
Letter from the Executive Director for December 2021: Choose Our Next Director
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Our Letter from the Executive Director for December 2021 discusses our annual elections, a possible public records lawsuit, and our dues increase.
Notice of Annual Meeting: MassLandlords Annual Elections December 8 through 21, 2021
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Members in good standing must vote in the 2021 election online at MassLandlords.net/governance. Nominations through Dec. 7. Vote Dec. 8 through 21.
Letter from the Executive Director for February 2022: Fie on Housing Partisanship
Our Letter from the Executive Director for February 2022 focuses on rent control, right of first refusal, and the proposed Worcester eviction moratorium.
Local Control of Housing Policy: A Bad Idea. An Open Letter to the Joint Committee on Housing
"Why do you care and what is it your business what Michelle Wu does to provide affordable housing in Boston?" is the question of the day from Jim Braude, Boston Public Radio.
MassLandlords: Don’t stop landlords from trying to recover owed rent from the pandemic
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Amicus brief filed by MassLandlords argues that the act establishing the eviction moratorium specifically did not restrict a landlord from attempting to recover rent
CDC Eviction Moratorium Off Again Following Supreme Court Decision
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The CDC nationwide eviction moratorium was vacated by the Supreme Court on August 31, marking its official, and likely final, end.
Filings Quarter Ending 2023 March 31
Massachusetts Eviction Data and Housing Court Statistics: Filings Quarter Ending 2023 March 31
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