Tenants take rent fight to Beacon Hill: Activists tell lawmakers housing costs are unsustainable without caps

BOSTON — Florence resident Envy Thomas found herself on the Grand Staircase of the State House Tuesday afternoon describing her precarious living situation to hundreds of others in advance of a public hearing on proposed rent control legislation.

Thomas told the crowd about her struggles as a single mother dealing with rent prices. “I can’t find affordable or safe housing for the two of us — it ain’t right. I have been forced to live with my mother because the cost of living is too damn high.”

Thomas and about 50 other residents from western Massachusetts hopped on a chartered bus and trekked to Beacon Hill to voice their support for the rent stabilization legislation, which, if adopted, would give local municipalities the option to cap rent increases in their communities. They were joined by hundreds of others from throughout the state at a rally before the hearing before the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government.

“Hey, hey. Ho, ho. Greedy landlords have got to go,” were among the chants echoing throughout the halls, with many in attendance hoisting signs demanding rent stabilization and the passage of S.1447, “An Act Enabling Cities and Towns to Stabilize Rents and Protect Tenants.”

Thomas is a member of Springfield No One Leaves, a grassroots organization whose goal is to help provide resources and organize residents who are “most directly impacted by the housing crisis and economic inequality.” Members of Springfield No One Leaves traveled to testify on Beacon Hill with people from Neighbor 2 Neighbor, an organization with locations in Springfield, Holyoke, Lynn and Worcester that supports multiple initiatives including affordable housing.

Springfield No One Leaves organized a rally in Easthampton earlier this month, reprimanding out-of-state landlords for steep rent increases.

“I am here to speak in support of S.1447,” said Springfield No One Leaves Director Rose Webster-Smith. “In my role as the director of Springfield No One Leaves, I hear the stories of thousands of western Mass. residents facing huge rent increases. … Our communities are bleeding uncontrollably and rent control is the tourniquet our communities need.”

Members of Springfield No One Leaves testified together, including Judy Holmes and Michael Wright of Springfield, joined by Easthampton resident Anne Stengle, who spoke on behalf of residents of 17 Adams St. who recently received rent increases ranging from 30% to 50%.

“Just last month I got a letter from my landlord for a $400 rent increase come September,” Holmes said. “I have until August to make a decision about paying the increase. What happens if I don’t agree? I get evicted and then that’s that.”

S.1447 would allow municipalities to adopt a local ordinance that would impose a limit on the size of annual rent increases to the rate of inflation with a cap of 5%, and require that evictions be based on defined just cause reasons for certain dwelling units within the municipality. The Easthampton City Council has already voiced its support of such legislation by passing a resolution in May.

Neighbor 2 Neighbor member Jeremy Pemberton testified in favor of the bill on Tuesday.

“I’m here today as a single father, a college student and someone who is on the brink of homelessness,” Pemberton said. “Not long ago, I had a stable place to live. But over time, the rent kept rising even though my wages didn’t.”

S.1447 is in tandem with rent stabilization bill H.2328 that was initially sent to the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government, although it was redirected and awaits another hearing. The legislation incorporates exemptions for owner-occupied buildings with four or fewer units, public and subsidized housing, college dorms, newly constructed buildings for five years and sites that offer residential elderly care.

Springfield No One Leaves is a part of Homes for All Massachusetts, a statewide organization that advocates for affordable housing.

“We’re here with tenants from across the state because we know that this is an issue with cities and towns across Massachusetts,” said Carolyn Chou, executive director of Homes for All Massachusetts. “It’s critical that we make that known. So often, the issue of rent control gets kind of sidelined as a problem in Somerville and Cambridge, but we know it’s also a Springfield, Holyoke, Easthampton and Worcester issue.”

Rep. Homar Gómez, D-Easthampton, attended the rally and the hearing as a co-sponsor for the bill.

“For me it’s important to support this bill because our people are being displaced from our communities,” Gómez said. “It’s about time that the state has to start doing something to protect our people and keep our people in our communities.”

The bill was proposed by Sen. Patricia D. Jehlen, D-Somerville, who testified at the hearing that welcomed more than 150 testimonies.

“We can’t wait,” Jehlen said about rent stabilization. “People are being displaced right now from their homes and their jobs and their schools. … We can’t afford to provide enough subsidies to keep up with rising rents and rising need.”

In August of last year, Gov. Maura Healey signed the Affordable Homes Act into law, authorizing $5.16 billion in spending to counter rising housing costs.

Mindy Perry, a Boston landlord, testified on a panel with the Small Property Owners Association, butting against Jehlen’s argument.

“Rent control is not going to solve the problem of housing, of rent price,” Perry testified. “It’s going to do the exact opposite. It’s going to devastate the housing supply and drive the rent price even higher. The only way to solve this is [to] increase the housing supply.”

Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government member Rep. Mike Connolly referenced the history of rent control in the state dating back to the first rent control ordinance passed by the Massachusetts General Court in 1920. In 1994, a ballot referendum banned rent control in Massachusetts. Since then, this has been the longest stretch of time the state has gone without rent stabilization, according to Connolly.

“I view this as a moderate concrete step that we could take, particularly in this moment where we know the federal government is cutting funding for HUD (the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) and is impacting our state finances,” Connolly said. “This is a commonsense proposal. When constituents call my office and they tell me, ‘My rent is being doubled’ or ‘I’ve been a good tenant and I’m not being offered a chance to renew my lease and there’s no good reason why.’ Many times they are shocked that there’s no policy thing that we can do.”

Approximately 441,000 low-income households across the state lack access to an affordable rental home, according to research released in April from Housing Navigator Massachusetts Inc. and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council.

Information from State House News Service was used in this article.