How to engage renters against eviction sealing
| . Posted in News, policy - 0 Comments
Probably we haven't engaged our renters in politics before. There's no time like the present to change this! Here is a sample email you could send. Customize it!
Suggested Email Subject
Need your help with a proposed law
Recommend you avoid "eviction sealing" in the subject. Some renters might be worried if they see "eviction" and fear that you are angry with them.
Suggested Email Body
Dear Resident,
I hope all is well. I need your help with a proposed law. This will just take a minute.
I participate in MassLandlords. It's a professional organization that teaches me. They alerted me to a proposed law that would make it harder for me to screen new residents for your building. As you know, I screen very carefully. I hold units vacant rather than put in a bad renter. It takes a lot of effort to keep all neighbors respectful. Some renters are very bad: shouting, fighting, smoking in no-smoking buildings, making noise late at night, making unlawful use of firearms and worse.
Landlords can choose three ways to evict a bad renter: for cause, for nonpayment and for "no cause stated." "No cause stated" doesn't mean a renter was blameless. It means the landlord couldn't prove it in court. There's a proposed law that will hide all evictions starting with "no cause stated." This law would make it much harder for me to screen new residents. I can't guarantee your next neighbors will follow the rules. If this new law prevents us from seeing who has been evicted, I couldn't protect you from bad neighbors.
If you are able, could you please email your state representative and senator? Your vote counts! Tell them you're glad landlords like me can check eviction records. Identify yourself as a renter and ask them to vote against H.4356 the HOMES Act:
State Rep <name>
<email from https://malegislature.gov/Search/FindMyLegislator >
State Senator <name>
<email from https://malegislature.gov/Search/FindMyLegislator >
A two-line email sent to both of them at the same time would work:
"Hi Representative and Senator,
I'm a renter in your districts. I heard about H.4356 the HOMES Act. This is going to make it harder for my landlord to screen my next neighbors. I'm opposed! I hope you will vote against it. Please let me know your thoughts."
If you are not comfortable doing this, you can just let me know and I will not ask again.
This email has been designed for easy reading. For each property, find the links to the representative and senator yourself and paste those and their names into the email template.
