Inside the MassLandlords Mission To Create Better Rental Housing

By Kimberly Rau, MassLandlords, Inc.

At MassLandlords, our mission is “to create better rental housing in Massachusetts by helping current, new and prospective owners run sustainable, compliant, quality businesses.” Our tagline is “Better communities. Better policy. Better lives.”

Keeping kids safe: our efforts to live up to our mission include lead paint education and advocating to get the deleading tax credit doubled. (Image License: cc BY-SA 4.0 MassLandlords, Inc.)

When we founded MassLandlords in 2013, we intentionally moved away from blind landlord advocacy in the mission. We still fight tooth and nail for landlords doing their level best, but ultimately, we want Massachusetts to be the best place to own and to rent. These are not mutually exclusive. That’s why the mission is to create better rental housing.

Coming up with a good mission is (relatively) simple. Putting it into practice is another matter entirely. Here are just some of the ways we’re working to create better rental housing in Massachusetts.

Fighting for Better Rental Laws

You may have heard Massachusetts described as “tenant friendly.” It’s true that housing policy in this state is tough on landlords. We advocate for better policy in many ways: attending local hearings, filing testimony in support of or opposition to state legislation and volunteering for state committees, to name a few. Often, we agree with the state, such as the importance of lead remediation and addressing climate change. Other times, we don’t, including rent control. When we disagree, we try to get things changed.

But we don’t just decide to fight rent control, or any other proposed policy. Our members are encouraged to fill out our public policy priorities survey, which tells us what issues matter most to our membership. Stopping rent control is a consistent priority for many members, and with good reason: Rent control is bad policy that hurts landlords, renters and private homeowners. It also ruins existing housing stock and takes units off the market. Supporting rent control would not be in line with our mission to create better rental housing.

Our Achievements in Housing Law

We can take credit for a number of accomplishments that are already creating better rental housing in Massachusetts.

For instance, we stopped the tenant opportunity to purchase act (TOPA), which would have been devastating for landlords looking to sell their properties.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, we suggested landlords be allowed to apply for rental assistance on behalf of their tenants. That reduced eviction filings by half, and forced move-outs by 90%.

We were also instrumental in doubling the deleading tax credit from $1,500 to $3,000. It’s not the tenfold increase we lobbied for, but it’s a step in the right direction that will help more rental housing providers offer families with young children a safe place to live.

In 2023, we learned our input was influential on the changes to the state sanitary code that were adopted that April. Our previously filed testimony helped keep unnecessary, expensive mandates out of the law.

Those are just a few examples. You can view the full list on our policy page, along with all of the proposed bills for both current and past legislative sessions.

From virtual Office Hours to our Crash Course in Landlording, we’re committed to ensuring our members know how to be good landlords. (Image License: cc BY-SA 4.0 MassLandlords, Inc.)

Certification: Creating Better Landlords

When we learned there is no statewide landlord certification standard, we created one. Our certification program is a voluntary step our members can take to tell their renters they’re committed to best housing practices. A Certified Massachusetts Landlord™ is someone committed to do what is right for themselves, their properties, their renters, and the community at large.

There are three levels of certification, and the first is committing to best practices. The second is passing a test that checks your knowledge of laws and best practices for rental housing in Massachusetts, and the third level is continuing education. We offer many events that count toward this step.

Education: Reading, Office Hours, Crash Course and More

We don’t expect our members to advocate for policy on their own, and we also don’t expect them to go out and find educational opportunities without help (though if you do come across something beneficial, let us know at hello@masslandlords.net). We are committed to providing as many educational opportunities as possible.

That starts with the newsletter, and the article you’re reading right now. We publish informative, important articles in a timely fashion and distribute them to our members through the website, social media and email.

We also have office hours over Zoom, where members can participate in open question-and-answer sessions with housing experts and attorneys. These are very popular and have limited capacity so everyone has a chance to be heard. You can find them on our events page, where we also list in-person events that allow you to network with local housing providers.

Finally, for new landlords or rental housing providers looking to brush up on best practices, we offer a daylong Crash Course in Landlording that’s designed to set you up for success. As of publication, our next one is in Cambridge in September, but keep an eye on the events page for other dates and locations.

You may have noticed public funding gets spent on penalizing landlords for discrimination, but no public funding is available to train you in advance. This is why we work hard to create opportunities for you to learn and ask questions, because we know it’s complicated and we’re here for you.

Conclusion

We are constantly advocating for better housing policy in Massachusetts, and urging our members to embrace best practices and follow the law. In this way, we hope to continue to improve the state of housing, as well as have a seat at the table as policy is being formed.