Supreme Court overturns Biden’s eviction moratorium, leaving Massachusetts renters at risk

The Supreme Court struck down the Biden administration’s stopgap eviction moratorium late Thursday night, leaving Massachusetts residents vulnerable to eviction once again before it was set to expire in October.

“In this moment where we have continued impacts from COVID-19… I was really shocked, horrified, and disappointed that, despite the way this was very narrowly crafted, the Supreme Court currently has struck it down,” state Rep. Mike Connolly, D-Cambridge, said of the moratorium.

The moratorium, put in place earlier this month, was set to expire on Oct. 3 and only applied to renters living in areas of “substantial” and “high” transmission of COVID-19. Connolly added that the burden was primarily on renters to show that they were impacted by the pandemic.

“This wasn’t a blanket moratorium, it was very narrowly tailored to those who are truly impacted and vulnerable,” Connolly said.

State Sen. Pat Jehlen, D-Somerville, added that the federal moratorium was designed to stop the spread of COVID-19, since those who are evicted are forced to move into other households, shelters or onto the street.

Many landlords were also supportive of the moratorium. “Landlords and renters are gonna lose with this, because the CDC moratorium was pretty reasonable compared to what the state of Massachusetts Legislature did to us last year and wants to do again,” said Doug Quattrochi, executive director of trade association MassLandlords, in reference to Gov. Charlie Baker’s more stringent statewide eviction moratorium that expired in October.

Jehlen filed legislation in the state Senate, and state Reps. Kevin Honan, D-Boston, and Frank Moran, D-Lawrence, filed in the House to extend an eviction and foreclosure moratorium in Massachusetts.

Quattrochi and other landlords have been frustrated by the slow rollout of millions of rental assistance dollars at the state’s disposal, but would rather see that process expedited and the moratorium extended than the current situation.

“Nobody wants to be that landlord who’s evicting a renter in the middle of a pandemic,” he said. “It’s terrible optics, and it’s extremely traumatizing and potentially dangerous for the family being evicted.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/38hJW6b