Massachusetts upholding ban on apartment evictions

Downtown Boston Real Estate Search

State protections still in effect

To begin, at least four states – Massachusetts, Nevada, New York and Oregon – are temporarily banning evictions of those with a pending rental assistance application.

If you haven’t applied for the aid yet and are worried about eviction, you should do so as soon as possible, experts say. The National Low Income Housing Coalition has a state-by-state list of the 484 programs giving out the aid.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also has a new tool to help you apply for rental relief. If you’re approved, you could get up to 18 months of your rent covered.

Evictions are still banned in some places.

Illinois’ eviction moratorium will be in effect through August, and Maryland’s until Aug. 15. The eviction ban in Hawaii expires on Aug. 6.

In California, where as many as 1.6 million renters may be in arrears, most landlords can’t move forward with evictions until October.

In Washington, D.C., landlords can’t begin evictions again until Aug. 26, and only at that point if they’d filed the paperwork prior to the pandemic. In these cases, you must be given 30 days notice. Other evictions in D.C. can’t resume until Oct. 12, and you must be provided with at least 60 days notice.

New York has extended its eviction moratorium until September for tenants who’ve endured a Covid-related setback or for whom moving could pose a health risk. To qualify, renters must submit a hardship form to their landlord.

Renters in New Jersey can’t be kicked out of their homes until January.

Other state policies are a little more complicated, but can help renters stay in their homes nonetheless.

For example, renters in Oregon can’t be evicted for rent owed between the months of April 2020 and June 2021, and they have until the end of February 2022 to make up those payments.

Similarly, in Washington, landlords are not allowed to serve an eviction for rental arrears racked up between Feb. 29, 2020 and July 31, 2021.

Meanwhile, in Connecticut, landlords can’t move forward with an eviction unless they’ve applied for federal rental assistance. And if they file an eviction before October, they need to provide tenants with 30 days’ notice.

The rules can get complicated fast, and sometimes landlords ignore them.

Anyone at risk of eviction should seek free legal help, experts say. You can do so at LawHelp.org or with the Legal Services Corporation

Source: CNBC

Update:

The processing of nearly 19,000 Massachusetts eviction cases on pause amid the pandemic starts Monday and with lawmakers on summer break, one local senator says renters’ best hope is local advocacy groups.

“Don’t wait for the government to come rescue you,” Sen. Pat Jehlen, D-Somerville, told the Herald. “The thing that people should do — moratorium or not — is reach out to the housing agencies that help people. And call your legislators — people need to tell their stories.”

A federal ban protecting renters who stopped paying during the pandemic expired on July 31.

President Biden on Friday called on “all state and local governments” to speed up payouts of billions in federal aid dollars earmarked for housing relief.