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The largest non-profit for owners and managers of Massachusetts residential real estate.
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Landlords in the college market should get to know their local colleges and universities. Some may certify MEFA loans to pay rent. The Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority (MEFA) helps undergraduates and graduate students afford higher education, typically tuition. But did you know that MEFA loans can also be used to…
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To qualify for RAFT, your tenant must meet criteria like low income and dependent children, and must be in court with you. Rental Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) is a program that gives up to $4,000 to prevent a tenant from being evicted. This money can pay for rent,…
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By Sharon Quinn Managing just a few units can be challenging but when the number of units under management starts flirting with 30, 40, 50 or more it greatly complicates the many and sundry aspects of being a landlord. With so many moving parts, some have resigned themselves to believe…
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By Sharon Quinn Managing just a few units can be challenging but when the number of units under management starts flirting with 30, 40, 50 or more it greatly complicates the many and sundry aspects of being a landlord. With so many moving parts, some have resigned themselves to believe…
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Left vs Right The MassLandlords strategy is to have a centrist, full time, public policy advocate, but that doesn’t stop any one of us from taking the initiative and seeing if something can be done grassroots on Rent Escrow. That’s what Skip Schloming (landlord advocate), Annette Duke (tenant advocate), and…
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Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. CC-BY-SA: Wikimedia, Edahlpr According to what Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said on Boston Public Radio, the fastest growing form of identity theft is stealing tax refunds. We’re no experts, but it sounds like the scheme goes like this: The criminal finds something like a W-2…
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By Linda Levine, SPOA Board member Hardly a day passes without an avalanche of articles bemoaning a housing crisis. Rents are rising, they say. Panicking tenants of modest and now even middle-class income are being priced out of popular neighborhoods like Cambridge or sections of Boston. Lucky ones win lotteries…
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Boston Landlords Startled to See 8 to 11% Tax Increases. As reported by the Boston Globe, Boston’s commissioner of assessing increased property values for two-families by 17%, and for three-families by 20%. Proposition 2 1/2 and a city exemption were used to abate the tax increases a little, but still,…
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Jack Guttentag, professor emeritus from Wharton, writes intelligent articles about home ownership. In his November 11 article, he describes the weaknesses that drive sellers and buyers together under lease-to-own arrangements. He highlights the reasons why these deals can actually help both parties overcome their respective troubles selling and purchasing. The…
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Image Credit: Jeffrey Beall The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) pays fuel costs or rent (if heat is included) for tenants with low incomes. Unfortunately, the state website explaining who is eligible is not clear. Benefits scale with the amount of funding allocated each year, household size, income,…
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