Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has submitted a proposed ordinance to the City Council that would require landlords initiating an eviction to provide tenants with notification of their rights as well as city, state and nonprofit resources that might help them stay in their homes.
Walsh announced the measure Friday, noting that a statewide moratorium on evictions is set to end on Oct. 17.
Walsh has pledged other efforts toward preventing mass evictions, including added staffing for city renter assistance programs and contracting with the Greater Boston Legal Services to provide legal assistance and help with informational clinics for renters.
If passed, the ordinance would enact some provisions of a 2017 Boston home rule petition known as the Jim Brooks Stabilization Act, which has stalled — along with other housing measures — in the state legislature.
But the measure would still far fall short of goals set forth in that home rule petition, as well as more sweeping legislation around evictions pending on Beacon Hill. Some affordable housing activists say the move is too little, too late.
“This measure, unfortunately, will not stop evictions — and that is our singular focus,” said Lisa Owens, executive director of City Life Vida Urbana, a Boston nonprofit that advocates for affordable housing and tenant protections, which, along with a coalition of advocacy groups, is pushing for state legislation to protect tenants.
For one thing, Owens says, Walsh’s ordinance — unlike the Jim Brooks Stabilization Act — does not create a legally binding requirement that landlords notify both tenants and the city of intention to evict.
Nor does it contain robust enforcement mechanisms, Owens said.
“It’s all kind of on the honor system,” Owens said. “And if the city somehow finds out” that a landlord failed to give proper notification of tenant rights and resources, “all the city can do is issue a fine or a warning.”
With the overlapping public health and economic pressures of the pandemic, and their disproportionate impact on communities of color, Owens says, her group is calling on local leaders and state lawmakers to maintain a singular focus on legislation sponsored by State Reps. Mike Connolly, of Cambridge, and Kevin Honan, of Boston.
That legislation, if enacted, would extend emergency protections from evictions through the duration of Massachusetts' state of emergency and for up to 12 months after emergency orders are rescinded.
“What we really need is for everybody to put all of their energy into fighting [that act],” Owens said.
So far, members of Boston City Council have had little to say, one way or another, about Walsh’s efforts.
Councilor Andrea Campbell, who has announced a mayoral campaign, said in a statement that she considers state legislation the highest priority to protect tenants, but called Walsh's ordiance a "common sense measure."
Councilor Michelle Wu, who has also announced she is running for mayor, said the measure falls short and she plans to address it at Wednesday's City Council meeting.