New bill would extend eviction moratorium by a year

REVERE RESIDENT Dolores De Blass has lived in the same apartment for 11 years and never had a problem making the $2,000-a-month rent, but then COVID-19 came along.

De Blass, her husband, her sister, son, and two daughters all tested positive in April. De Blass was in intensive care twice, and her sister was in a medically induced coma for two weeks from the virus. Between the illness and unemployment, the family was still able to pay the rent for April and May but they are $1,000 short for June.

Her landlord has said she “wants the money” and isn’t playing nice. De Blass said the landlord curses at them and sends threatening text messages. The landlord had the family car towed away and cut the locks on the children’s bicycles and removed them. They’re being threatened with eviction, despite a current statewide ban on expulsion that her landlord claims is “a lie.”

For now, the law is on De Blass’s side. An eviction moratorium signed into law by Gov. Charlie Baker on April 18 put all eviction proceedings on hold. Now, worried about an avalanche of evictions once state and federal eviction moratoriums end in August, lawmakers on Beacon Hill and at the federal level are calling for an extension of the eviction moratorium. The big question is whether they can come up with a solution that safeguards tenants and homeowners while not driving landlords and banks out of business.

Read more: https://commonwealthmagazine.org/housing/new-bill-would-extend-eviction-moratorium-by-a-year/