Letter from the Executive Director for June 2025: Technical Progress

This month’s letter is less thematic and more a laundry list of things you might want to know we’re doing. I’ll cover a spectrum from operations up through policy, starting with our site.

At long last we’ve identified the cause of site slowness for some members. It’s in third-party software to control site access permissions. A bad query is causing approximately 16,000 database lookups for a single page load if the member viewing the page has 100 of a thing called a “bundle.” Bundles track engagement like the Home Depot program and event registrations. Page load times for affected members are 13 seconds. We’ve put resources on it. We will have a fix deployed as soon as possible.

Monthly dues has been in the works for two years this summer. Implementing it has been like any software project: a long, unprotected crawl through broken glass. We have finished development of 33 features in the technical spec; there are four features left to develop, and no longer any technical uncertainty. Members can look forward to payment plans that are monthly, annual paid monthly and annual prepaid. We will also be improving your ability to modify your plan, add or remove features like the helpline and eventually change your card on file.

We continue to cover for a team member on long-term leave of absence. This, however, hasn’t stopped us from starting a new program to check that units owned are correct at signup. We’ve required accurate disclosure since “price per unit” launched in December 2021. If units are incorrect, we will charge the dues based on what we see in the public record plus a $60 verification fee. It has been rewarding to see compliance improve and almost no one pay the fee as average dues increase. Please make sure your unit count is accurate. When we all pay what we fairly owe, MassLandlords is better resourced to protect our investments.

Eviction sealing started May 5. The housing court presented to over 100 attendees. We explain how our rental application has been updated to comply with the law.

Make sure to search our site. We have a growing library of 15-minute videos to train on lots of topics. The most recent one was about rooming houses.

We’re trying to support our long-term political objectives by increasing the amount of time we spend doing public relations. For instance, at the Worcester landlord summit we gave a well-attended talk and handed out over a hundred back editions of our newsletter. We want many more to get our messages about how to create better rental housing.

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.