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Posted in News –
A hearing has been scheduled for a rent control bill filed by Senators Jehlen and Gomez, S.1447 “An Act enabling cities and towns to stabilize rents and protect tenants.” The hearing will be Tuesday, July 29, at 1 p.m.. The deadline to register to testify via zoom is Monday, July 28, at 3 p.m. Click the hearing link to register.
To submit written testimony, write a letter on company or personal letterhead and email hello@masslandlords.net subject: Rent control testimony, by 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 29. We will collate and submit testimony.
This bill would hold rent increases to rents 12 months ago, even for recently renovated properties.
MassLandlords has prepared 33 pages of written testimony.
Optional: Click or tap the coversheet to read our 33 pages of testimony:
Summary:
Rent control would help the people who have an apartment when the bill passed into law. It would hurt everyone else forever after.
The main problems with S.1447 are as follows:
It would cost Massachusetts half a billion at least.
Rent control lowered assessed values and real estate tax revenue. Rent control reduced the budget of each town that adopted rent control. This resulted in that town siphoning State Aid from surrounding non-controlled towns and lowering their budgets.
Rent control worsened discrimination.
Rent control has an unintended disparate impact on the basis of race. It creates “availability discrimination” where landlords hold apartments vacant longer waiting for a “perfect” application.
Cambridge residents who obtained rent-controlled units included Massachusetts Superior Judicial Court Judge Ruth Abrams (left); Prince Frederik of Denmark, a Harvard graduate student at the time (center);…