On Wednesday, October 5th, the Boston City Council voted 10-3 to support “just cause” eviction. The three lawmakers who voted in opposition to the measure were Bill Linehan (District-2), Sal LaMattina (District-1) and Tim McCarthy (District-5). The bill, which is opposed by the Greater Boston Real Estate Board (GBREB), will be sent as a Home Rule Petition to the State House for further consideration. Chyna Tyler (D-Boston) has indicated she will sponsor the bill.
For several years Boston City Council has discussed “just cause” eviction. Proponents of “just cause” have not only advocated for limiting evictions but limiting rents as well. In 2017 The “Jim Brooks Stabilization Act” bill was introduced. In March, the bill was heard by the Committee on Government Operations. During a subsequent working session, the Committee discussed narrowing the bill to focus on three goals, first educating tenants on their rights, second asking the landlord to notify the City regarding evictions and third improving data collection on evictions in the City. The Committee also discussed dividing the original “Jim Brooks” bill into two bills-an Ordinance and a Home Rule petition. On Monday, October 2nd, the Committee issued its recommendations by splitting the Jim Brooks Act into two bills. The Home Rule petition was approved by the Council on Wednesday and the Ordinance is still pending before the Council.
GBREB opposes the Home Rule Petition as overly broad in scope and for imposing significant penalties for violation. The bill applies when any form of notice to quit or notice of non-renewal is served on an occupant. This is far beyond the initial scope and purpose of the original legislation which was to address “no-fault” evictions of long-term Boston residents. The current bill would now expand its application to non-payment of rent cases, cause evictions for material lease violations, drug evictions, etc.