‘Fear and Panic’ as Massachusetts opens courts to eviction proceedings

As Massachusetts courts restart eviction proceedings, the Herald is following a number of renters and landlords trying to navigate the crisis. The following folks have agreed to talk to the Herald.

Paulette Houston, landlord, Roxbury

Houston, 66, said her tenants of two years were already two months behind on rent when the pandemic struck and are now more than $12,000 in arrears.

“I’m at the point where I don’t know what to do,” Houston said.  She has been forced to dip into her retirement account to cover the costs. She feels small landlords like her have been “forgotten” by an eviction moratorium she says she was originally in favor of, but said tenants have “learned to take advantage of.”

Houston — who suffers from multiple sclerosis, diabetes and other health issues — was raised in the Homestead Street duplex where she still lives and said it has always been a “point of pride” for her to be able to lease out her “clean, well-kept affordable place” that she rents out for below-market-rate.

Houston said she doesn’t want to evict the family that lives in her three-bedroom apartment, but worries she “won’t have enough money … to have a comfortable old age” as her savings keep going down.

Allison Nolan and Thomas Hodge, tenants, Bridgewater

Nolan, 33, and Hodge, 32, moved to the South Shore to escape Boston’s higher rent a little over a year ago and have struggled since the pandemic hit to stay current with the bills amid their lost income and waning benefits.

The couple missed a $1,600 rental payment in June and have found it “impossible to catch up,” even though they’re both back to work full-time. They now face weekly calls and emails from the property management company they describe as “heartless,” reminding them they will face eviction if they don’t pay in full by Dec. 1.

“We actually got hurt when Tom went back to work because we lost the unemployment and we also lost our EBT benefits — so our expenses went up and we were making less,” Nolan said.

An extra $600 in weekly COVID-19 benefits provided to people collecting unemployment gave the couple who typically live paycheck-to-paycheck just enough of a cushion to make ends meet. They fell behind when their stimulus checks dried up and Hodge took a lower-paying temporary job with Amazon.

Then the couple was hit with unexpected medical bills for their year-old chihuahua and their shared vehicle broke down twice within weeks.

“We only have so much money,” Nolan said.

They are considering taking out a personal loan to cover the cost of rent and say they “don’t even know where to turn” to find emergency supplemental benefits.

Leo Sheehan, landlord, Falmouth

Sheehan, 63, will be at Housing Court when “the doors open” on Monday to move forward with evicting the sole tenant in his New Bedford condominium — a first for the landlord of nearly 30 years.

The retired father of two had plans to sell his longtime rental property of 15 years even before the pandemic to help his son cover the cost of law school. His tenant of three years stopped paying the $800 rent and has “ignored all communication” since the state enacted an eviction and foreclosure moratorium in April. She owes $5,600.

“It’s not about the money. I’m a good guy. I pay my bills. I try to do the right thing, why should I be suffering for someone who is gaming the system?” he asked.

Juana Sanchez, tenant, East Boston

Sanchez, 52, said she feels “fear and panic” that when the eviction moratorium ends, she will be pushed out of her home of nine years where she currently lives with her husband and two daughters.

Sanchez is a volunteer for City Life/Vida Urbana and said she has not fallen even one month behind on her $1,100 rent. Yet, she said in Spanish, “I’m worried that they are going to fight to get me out.”

Sanchez said her fear of eviction started three years ago when she was told the property needed to be renovated to usher in new, and higher-paying tenants.

But she loves her neighborhood and home, where she said she has a view of the sea and of Boston that calms her when she experiences depression and insomnia.

“I’m not the only one suffering, there are cases more horrible than mine,” said Sanchez.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3kaJg79