Walsh to file elderly tenant protection bill to state lawmakers

Jan. 07--Property owners are gearing up for a fight against what they say is a return of rent control as Mayor Martin J. Walsh files legislation he's touting as a way to protect elderly renters in the city.

If passed, the legislation prepared by Walsh would "limit rent increases to 5 percent per year to prevent landlords from using large rent increases to get around just cause protections," according to a description of the proposal.

"That sounds like rent control," said Douglas Quattrochi, executive director of MassLandlords, an organization that represents over 1,400 landlords in the state. "Limiting increases is a form of rent control and it'll create a shortage for people to find a place to live if enacted. When someone gets in through rent control the tenants will never leave."

The Walsh Administration defended the proposal.

"We're seeing many elders lose their home and ones that they have been able to enjoy for decades," said Sheila Dillon, the city's housing chief. "So we feel very strongly this a very, very vulnerable population that needs to be protected."

The proposal would protect senior tenants 75 years or older against "arbitrary, unreasonable, discriminator, or and retaliatory evictions." If passed, the law would only allow eviction for cases such as failure to pay rent or damage to the property.

"The lead-up to to these draft bills the last months to three months, we're sitting down with the affordable housing advocates, the jobs folk and really figuring out what is most important and what we think we can get passed," said Dillon. "I'm feeling very optimistic that we've developed reasonable, rational, well-thought through bills."

Quattrochi however said the proposal was not developed with input from the property owners that he represents.

"We were not invited to the room on these discussions," said Quattrochi. He added that any form of rent control would "galvanize the landlords" to oppose it.

Kathy Brown, executive director at Boston Tenant Coalition, a nonprofit that promotes affordable housing and expanding the rights of tenants said renters, who make up the majority of Boston residents, need protection.

"Rent protection is the number one thing that is said at every community meeting when talking about housing crisis and families impacted by it," said Brown.

"Boston's approach in this in this legislative package is twofold," said Dillon. "We really do need to generate additional resources for the creation of affordable housing and we've been doing an admirable job adding to our affordable housing stock but the Mayor, and all of us, will say that until we have enough affordable housing for for everyone, we need to make sure that residents of Boston are protected and they can stay in their homes. That's the bottom line."

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