BOSTON — A CDC order for an eviction moratorium has gone in effect.
The aim is to protect an estimated 30-40 million people at risk for eviction nationwide.
Massachusetts already has one of the strongest eviction and foreclosure moratoriums in the country in place.
“Governments have broad latitude to protect the public health,” says eviction moratorium co-author representative Mike Connolly. “And if we take the economics out of it, and just concentrate on the science, it is absolutely obvious that in the middle of a pandemic, promoting housing stability is a necessary public health strategy.”
There’s some key differences between the state’s moratorium and the CDC’s moratorium. Tenants have to submit a declaration of hardship and have it approved.
>> Related: MAPC estimates 108,000 MA residents can’t pay their rent or mortgage
It only applies to renters making less than $99,000 a year. The state’s moratorium includes homeowners with foreclosure protection. And the CDC moratorium is up on December 31. The state’s moratorium, that’s set to be up on October 17.
“I’m grateful September has been paid,” says Jamaica Plain renter Anne Mosley. “I have October. When November comes around, we’ll have to wait and see but it’s just one day at a time.”
Attorneys are challenging the constitutionality of the moratorium in federal court.
They call CDC order another unfunded mandate with dire consequences for the housing markets and the landlords.
“Her tenants already owe her $23,000. They’re driving around in fancy cars, they’re employed, they’re taking advantage of the moratorium,” says attorney Richard Vetstein of one of the landlords he represents. “And that story is being replicated across the Commonwealth.”
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