A moratorium on evictions that was passed at the beginning of the pandemic is set to expire in August, raising concerns of a potential tidal wave of evictions in the middle of an international public health crisis. WGBH News Morning Edition host Joe Mathieu spoke with Northeastern University law professor and WGBH News legal analyst Daniel Medwed about the mechanics of the moratorium and some of the legal challenges it faces. The transcript below has been edited for clarity.
Joe Mathieu: I appreciate you're looking into this. This is a big deal for a lot of people and we should start with the basics of the moratorium [and] what it means for residents in Massachusetts.
Daniel Medwed: Well, the law imposes a temporary ban on many kinds of evictions for residential and small business tenants until August 18, a deadline that might be extended if the state of emergency persists. Now, the rationale for this moratorium is pretty self evident — that COVID-19 has wrought unprecedented economic devastation to the region making it difficult, if not impossible, for many people to meet their rental obligations. Without a moratorium like this, the nonpayment of rent, especially as it accrues over a number of months, could provide the basis for a tidal wave of evictions in the fall, displacing thousands of people at the very moment that a global pandemic is raging and really aggravating this public health crisis. I should note, the moratorium isn't a reprieve from the payment of rent. It just means that failure to pay rent cannot serve as the basis for an eviction.
Mathieu: So you still have to pay eventually. Are there exceptions, Daniel? Does it apply to residential and business tenants?
Medwed: There are some exceptions. Now the law applies explicitly to what it labels "non-essential evictions", which it defines as evictions related to the nonpayment of rent, as we discussed, those resulting from foreclosure, those for no fault or no cause and certain other narrow categories of evictions. The types of evictions that may proceed during the moratorium — those deemed essential — are only those that involve allegations of criminal activity or lease violations that jeopardize the health or safety of other people. [If] somebody sets up a methamphetamine lab in their rental unit, they can still be evicted during this period.
Mathieu: So residential tenants generally cannot be evicted for nonpayment of rent, but could they be charged late fees? Could they be penalized somehow for missing payments in this time?
Medwed: This is a pretty interesting piece of it. So the law specifies that tenants will not be subjected to either late fees or even a negative report to a credit agency, so long as they certify in a letter in writing to their landlord that the reason for the nonpayment of rent stems from the financial impact of COVID-19.
Mathieu: That's important.
Medwed: Very important. So notably, you have to file that certification within 30 days of missing your rent payment or else, in theory, you could be on the hook for penalties.
Mathieu: That's something that everyone should know. I mentioned a challenge a couple minutes ago here posed by some landlords. How are they dealing with this?
Medwed: It's no surprise, I think, that many landlords have reacted unfavorably to the moratorium. Some, of course, are struggling to pay their own bills and believe, whether true or false, that some financially-solvent tenants are taking advantage of the situation to withhold rent. So two real estate lawyers representing some landlords filed an emergency petition with the Supreme Judicial Court a couple weeks ago seeking to overturn this law — overturn the moratorium — on constitutional grounds, including the claim that it constitutes a taking of landlord property without just compensation. That's known as a violation of the takings clause. Also, there's a claim that the law deprives landlords of access to the courts. Now, just last week, a single justice of the SJC, David Lowy, refused to refer the petition to the entire court and instead dispatched it down below to a trial court, which is going to delay resolution of these issues for many, many months, perhaps even until the moratorium has already ceased.
