HFF Legislative Priority 9: A Bill of Rights for People Experiencing Homelessness

Bill H.264/S.142 is formally called “An Act providing a bill of rights for people experiencing homelessness.” In short, it recognizes various fundamental rights that people experiencing homelessness should always have. A bill of rights for people experiencing homelessness is not a new piece of legislation in the country.

In fact, some states already have a homeless bill of rights, including Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Illinois. The nation still has a long way to go in passing and implementing a bill of rights for every state’s homeless population. By passing this bill, Massachusetts will be taking the next step forward in protecting the rights of all of its people. 

What are these rights exactly? In the states that have passed a homeless bill of rights, and in this proposed bill, the following rights are recognized: the right to move freely in public spaces, the right to confidentiality of records, the right to privacy of property, and the right to register to vote and to vote. Legislators and organizations working to pass this bill believe that these are fundamental human rights that are not currently protected in the homeless population. 

What will this bill change? 

• It will amend public spaces laws, recognizing the rights of people experiencing homelessness to rest, eat, pray, and be in public spaces 
• It will amend voting laws to affirm the right to vote and register to vote without a permanent address 
• It will amend anti-discrimination laws to include housing status 

This Bill would also repeal old sections of Massachusetts General Laws that use harmful terminology such as “tramps”, “vagrants”, and “vagabonds.” These terms have been used since before the foundation of this country and have been used as derogatory terms for people experiencing homelessness for centuries. First used to describe people who were homeless, unemployed, and/or participating in an unlicensed trade, they have come to be used instead to imply criminal activity and laziness. These detrimental terms clearly have no place in 21^st century legislation. 

Bill H.264/S.142 was presented by State Senator Rebecca L. Rausch and was referred to Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities. These legislative changes will affirm the equal rights of all persons experiencing homelessness. It is a critical step in combatting the inequalities faced by low-income people and in fighting for racial equity in housing and shelter. 

How to get involved: 

• USE YOUR VOICE 

• Contact your state representative to urge them to vote “yes” on this bill: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/WhereDoIVoteMA/bal/MyElectionInfo.aspx 

You can find your State Representative and Senator HERE. These elected officials work for you, and it is immensely important that they hear from their constituents about what you want them to do as your representative. Here is a script you can use to email or call your representatives: 

Dear Representative/Senator [NAME],  

My name is [NAME] and I am Calling/Emailing on behalf of [ORGANIZATION]. I live in your district and wanted to talk to you about a piece of legislation that is crucial to helping end family homelessness in Massachusetts. This bill is incredibly important to me and I would really appreciate your advocacy around, especially by co-sponsoring the bill.  

On any given night in our state, 18,471 people experience homelessness, a number that has more than doubled since 1990, and over 12,000 of them are in families with children. Since 2007, no other State in America has seen a larger increase in family homelessness. It doesn’t have to be this way! There are concrete laws that can be passed that will drastically transform Massachusetts into a State where homelessness really is brief, rare, and non-recurring.  

As your constituent, here is the bill I’d like you to co-sponsor and support: 

Bill H.264/S.142: An Act providing a bill of rights for people experiencing homelessness 

This bill would protect the fundamental human rights that all people experiencing homelessness should have. It is necessary as a democratic state to protect the rights of all citizens, especially those who face times of hardship. 

Sincerely, [NAME] 

• LEARN MORE 

• See our blog for more information: https://homesforfamilies.wordpress.com/ 

• SHARE THE CAUSE 

• Find us on Twitter @HFFma 
• Find us on Facebook @homesforfamilies 

The lead sponsors of this Bill are: 

• Senator Becca Rausch, Representative Smitty Pignatelli, & Representative Frank Moran 

To read the full Bill, please visit: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/SD1467 

HFF Legislative Priority 8: An Act Guaranteeing a Tenant’s First Right of Refusal

Why Do We Need This Bill?  

As the COVID-19 eviction moratorium ends, the scarcity of affordable housing for low-income families in Massachusetts will be further exacerbated by widespread foreclosures. Speculative buyers have already set up post-pandemic investment funds in these previously affordable housing properties. Large investment firms will buy these distressed properties and convert them to luxury condominiums when prices rise in the future.  

An act to guarantee a tenant’s first right of refusal will preserve the stock of affordable and subsidized housing for low-income tenants. This bill encompasses the Tenant’s Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), which will give tenants, or their designated buyers, more time and opportunity to assemble financing and buy these properties before luxury developers. This will not only preserve the affordability of rental housing, but also help facilitate conversion to subsidized property.  

How Does This Bill Work? 

Tenants will have an opportunity to purchase the rental property first when it is put up for sale. When the current owner receives a third party offer to purchase the property, the tenant must be notified. The renter would then have the opportunity to purchase with the same price and conditions.  Furthermore, the offer must be presented within a reasonable time frame that is typical in the normal market, and the sale prices must be market-rate. The right of first refusal applies only to tenants in good standing who are renting investor-owned properties. It does not apply to tenants in owner-occupied properties or small landlords.  

If the tenants cannot purchase the property, they may form a tenant association made up of tenants in at least 51% of the tenant-occupied units to collectively purchase or designate a buyer for the property. The designated buyer may be any organization, developer, or government agency who can secure financing and intends to maintain affordable rent. Not only is TOPA cost-neutral for the state, but it is an enabling act, meaning it will only go into effect if municipalities accept it. 

This is a brief diagram by CHAPA depicting the process of right of first refusal:  

Who will this Bill Help? 

Displacement and evictions disproportionately affect people of color, single mothers, people with disabilities and, other vulnerable groups. TOPA will protect communities from further inequity as it creates pathways to ownership for tenants.  

History of the Bill 

The Tenant’s Right of First Refusal/Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) is not a new bill. This act was first enacted in Washington D.C and has helped preserve thousands of homes. Furthermore, versions of this bill have been successful in many states and cities such as San Francisco, Berkeley, California, Chicago, New Hampshire, as well as Washington D.C.  

For More Information: 

How Can You Help? 

Write/call your elected officials.   

You can find your State Representative and Senator HERE. These elected officials work for you, and it is immensely important that they hear from their constituents about what you want them to do as your representative. Here is a script you can use to email or call your representatives: 

Dear Representative/Senator [NAME],  

My name is [NAME] and I am Emailing on behalf of [ORGANIZATION]. I live in your district and wanted to talk to you about a piece of legislation that is crucial to helping end family homelessness in Massachusetts. This bill is incredibly important to me and I would really appreciate your advocacy around, especially by co-sponsoring the bill.  

On any given night in our state, 18,471 people experience homelessness, a number that has more than doubled since 1990, and over 12,000 of them are in families with children. Since 2007, no other State in America has seen a larger increase in family homelessness. It doesn’t have to be this way! There are concrete laws that can be passed that will drastically transform Massachusetts into a State where homelessness really is brief, rare, and non-recurring.  

As your constituent, here is the bill I’d like you to co-sponsor and support:  

HD.1426/S.890: An Act to guarantee a tenant’s first right of refusal 

This bill would give tenants an opportunity to purchase the rental property first when it is put up for sale. This will prevent speculative buyers from decreasing the stock of affordable and subsidized housing for low-income tenants.   

Sincerely, [NAME] 

2. Use social media!  

Follow HFF on Twitter and Facebook to learn more about TOPA. Tweet directly at your Representatives and Senators! 

FACT SHEET draft: https://www.canva.com/design/DAEhnbF8D0g/7p6DtsUr8FtmMrTto4bogw/edit 

HFF Legislative Priority 7: An Act Promoting Housing Opportunity and Mobility Through Eviction Sealing (HOMES)

In the state of Massachusetts, no matter the outcome of an eviction case—even if it is dismissed or the final judgment is made in the tenant’s favor—the case remains publicly available online forever. As a result, even decades after an eviction case is filed in court, individuals with eviction records can experience significant difficulty attaining housing, credit, insurance, and employment. Over 1 million eviction cases have been filed in the Commonwealth since 1988, and people of color and women with children are most at risk of being denied opportunities because of these public records, as they are more statistically vulnerable to eviction.  

Sealing eviction records is a matter of social justice. Black tenants are twice as likely as white tenants to face eviction in Massachusetts. Families with young children, those with disabilities, seniors, and victims of domestic violence are also at disproportionately high risk of eviction. Evictions themselves uproot people’s lives, but for these particularly at-risk groups, the court records may be even more harmful, as they last a lifetime.  

Landlords who find evictions on an individual’s record may reject their rental application or use the record as justification to charge them a higher rent or security deposit. Landlords may also exploit people’s fear of eviction and neglect to complete legally required rental property repairs and upkeep. Tenants may suffer in inadequate, even dangerous living conditions or concede to an unlawful lease termination in order to avoid permanent records of eviction. This is not to mention the enormous potential obstacles to obtaining credit or holding onto a stable job due to public eviction records. 

What if tenants do unfortunately find themselves embroiled in an eviction case? As mentioned in our previous blog post on the Right to Counsel, because evictions unfold in civil court, defendants are not guaranteed legal advice or representation. Since tenants typically do not have the means to hire their own attorneys but most landlords do, the outcome of an eviction case is overwhelmingly skewed in a landlord’s favor. That’s if tenants even show up. According to the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, many tenants are unable to attend court due to school, job, or childcare conflicts and receive a judgment against them by default. Some are never even notified of the action against them in the first place. 

The aforementioned reasons are enough to cast real doubt on the use of eviction records as an accurate characterization of a person’s tenancy, employability, or credit-worthiness. However, these court records are not just dangerous because eviction cases are overwhelmingly unfair, the records themselves fail to tell a complete story of one’s eviction experience.  

The MLRI found a number of serious and recurring issues with the eviction records readily accessible to the public via MassCourts.org. They discovered that many records are riddled with errors, such as misclassification of no-fault evictions as fault evictions and duplication of cases on people’s records. In addition, final outcomes are written in legal shorthand, ambiguous to laymen readers, and judgments paid in full are rarely reflected in the online record. Once again to the detriment of defendants in these cases, landlords’ allegations are displayed clearly online, while tenants’ statements of defense or claims against their landlords do not appear. 

People who, as children, were named in eviction cases concerning their parents and therefore have records, face discrimination as adults. So do people with the same name as that of an actual defendant in an eviction case. Plenty of families and individuals face eviction because the landlord wishes to sell the property, a new owner decides to renovate the apartment, extensive repairs are required, or because of a slew of other reasons besides non-payment of rent or lease violation. However, the MLRI found that landlords and others seeking out these records rarely differentiate between parties based on the outcomes of their eviction cases; just the presence of a record, whether or not a tenant was at fault, even if the case occurred decades prior, was enough to affect their ability to secure housing, employment, and credit. 

Given the evidence the MLRI laid out, we can longer treat eviction records as an accurate account of a person’s life situation, and this state must no longer sit idly by while landlords, employers, and others in power use these records to prey upon low-income renters, exclude them, and judge their reliability and worth. 

The HOMES Act seeks to protect individuals from the potential negative impacts of open eviction records in several ways, but first, here are a few important definitions: 

• A tenant may be subject to a “fault eviction” when they have violated the terms of their rental agreement, including failure to pay rent or to vacate the premises following termination or conclusion of their tenancy as specified in the agreement. 
• A “no-fault eviction”, on the other hand, occurs due to a reason other than a tenant’s nonpayment of rent or other violation of the terms of the tenancy, such as when a landlord decides to remove the unit from rental housing use or demolish the rental property. 
• Finally, “lessor action” is any civil action a tenant brings against a landlord or property manager due to a violation of the rental agreement or another law. 

H.1808 and S.921 promise to: 

• Keep eviction cases sealed unless and until an allegation is proven in court 

• Keep sealed no-fault evictions and other housing cases, such as when tenants are seeking repairs 
• Seal all eviction records after 3 years 
• Allow individuals to petition the court to seal records of fault eviction and lessor action cases before 3 years have passed if they have satisfied their judgments or agreements for judgment 
• Allow parties and their representatives to view sealed cases online 
• Ensure that parties may correct any errors in their eviction records 

• Prohibit consumer reporting agencies or landlords from using or reporting information from a sealed court record 

People should not have to bear an eternal burden because of their prior involvement in eviction cases, whether or not they were found to be at fault. With evictions on the rise due to pandemic-related financial hardship and the recently extended federal eviction moratorium set to end on October 3^rd, our legislators must act swiftly. Contact your state representatives and encourage them to stand with lead sponsors Sen. Joe Boncore and Rep. Mike Moran against discrimination based on eviction records by co-sponsoring the HOMES Act!  

Please contact Director of Policy Benjamin Daly at bdaly@homesforfamilies.org with any questions, comments, or concerns! 

For a comprehensive report on the impacts of Massachusetts’ permanent eviction records, read Massachusetts Law Reform Institute’s “Evicted for Life” here. 

To read the full Bill, please visit https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/H1808 and https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/S921. 

HFF Legislative Priority 6: Right to Counsel in Evictions

 An Act promoting housing stability and homelessness prevention in Massachusetts (S. 874 & H.1436) 

COVID-19 has further exacerbated the housing crisis by increasing the threat of evictions for low-income families. Without an eviction moratorium in place, there is no telling how many evictions would have been filed, but estimates are in the hundreds of thousands, and maybe even a million. Now that the eviction moratorium has expired, evictions are about to come roaring back because tenants have no protections and have not fully recovered from the pandemic.

While tenants may try to fight their eviction case in court, fewer than 10% of tenants are able to obtain legal representation. In contrast, 80% of landlords are represented by legal counsel. This imbalance favors landlords and often results in unjust evictions. Most evictions happen very quickly and with complicated procedural rules, which means a majority of these tenants are forced to navigate this complex process on their own. Landlords often take advantage of this and file meritless eviction cases, knowing that they are more likely to win in court.  

• Source: Massachusetts Trial Court Department, FY 2020 
• Published visual of legal representation imbalance by CHAPA 

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WHAT WILL A RIGHT TO COUNSEL BILL DO?

Senator DiDomenico, along with Rep. Rogers, and Rep. Day have filed a bill in both the House and the Senate that will establish a right to counsel for eviction cases. Bills S.874 and H.1436 will ensure low-income households have access to resources, including full legal representation in eviction cases, which will promote housing stability and prevent homelessness. This will be executed with a pilot Right to Counsel program.  

How does the Right to Counsel Program Work?  

The Right to Counsel Program is administered by the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation (MLAC). MLAC provides free and full legal assistance and representation with state funding by contracting not-for-profit organizations. This may include legal advice, advocacy, and assistance associated with representation, including the filing of a notice of appearance on behalf of the eligible individual. To qualify, individuals must receive certain public assistance benefits, have an after-tax income that is 80% or less of the area median income (AMI), or be unable to pay for legal representation without impacting life necessities.

The MLAC will provide a form that will notify individuals of their eligibility for a right to legal counsel in eviction proceedings. However, if an eligible tenant or occupant does not receive an approved form or the legal counsel does not have time to file a response, legal assistance must be obtained for the lawsuit to continue. This ensures that tenants and owner-occupants will not be forced to default and accept eviction due to the limited timeline. Furthermore, MLAC will put together an advisory committee that consists of low-income tenants, community-based organizations, statewide advocacy organizations, municipal officials, and others committed to housing stability.  

This is an emergency law and is necessary for public safety in preventing homelessness, overcrowding, and displacement; therefore, this act will not be deferred and will be put into effect immediately if passed.  

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BRIEF HISTORY OF BILL 

In 2021, both Connecticut and Washington passed right to counsel bills for eviction cases, and cities like New York City, Louisville, Cleveland, and Los Angeles have invested in tenant representation and implemented RTC programs successfully. According to Cleveland’s RTC interim report, 93% of their RTC clients who faced eviction were able to avoid displacement, and other cities with similar programs have a 75 to 85% success rate. New York City reports that their eviction rate declined about 30%, and 84% of the represented tenants were able to win their eviction cases in a 2019 report. HFF believes a RTC program will ensure families in Massachusetts will have long-term stable housing through the pandemic and after.  
 

Eviction Help 

If you are currently fighting an eviction without legal assistance, please refer to Greater Boston Legal Services’ Massachusetts Defense for Eviction (MADE) for self-guided eviction help HERE. This completely free guided interview is for Massachusetts tenants who are being evicted. It is estimated to take between 25 and 90 minutes for a typical tenant to use on their own. It will help you make sure that you respond to your landlord’s eviction case correctly. 

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HOW CAN YOU HELP? 

1. Write/call your elected officials.   

You can find your State Representative and Senator HERE. These elected officials work for you, and it is immensely important that they hear from their constituents about what you want them to do as your representative. Here is a script you can use to email or call your representatives: 

Dear Representative/Senator [NAME],  

My name is [NAME] and I am Emailing on behalf of [ORGANIZATION]. I live in your district and wanted to talk to you about a piece of legislation that is crucial to helping end family homelessness in Massachusetts. This bill is incredibly important to me and I would really appreciate your advocacy around, especially by co-sponsoring the bill.  

On any given night in our state, 18,471 people experience homelessness, a number that has more than doubled since 1990, and over 12,000 of them are in families with children. Since 2007, no other State in America has seen a larger increase in family homelessness. It doesn’t have to be this way! There are concrete laws that can be passed that will drastically transform Massachusetts into a State where homelessness really is brief, rare, and non-recurring.  

As your constituent, here is the bill I’d like you to co-sponsor and support: HD.1436/S.874: An Act promoting housing stability and homelessness prevention in Massachusetts. This bill will ensure low-income people have access to resources, including full legal representation in eviction cases. 

Sincerely, [NAME] 

2. Use social media!  

Follow HFF on Twitter and Facebook to learn more about RTC. Tweet directly at your Representatives and Senators! 

View Factsheet Draft: https://www.canva.com/design/DAEhnbF8D0g/7p6DtsUr8FtmMrTto4bogw/edit 

For more information, visit The Massachusetts Right to Counsel Coalition website: 

• https://www.massrtc.org/bills.html 

ACLU Tenant’s Right to Counsel Article: 

• https://www.aclu.org/news/racial-justice/tenants-right-to-counsel-is-critical-to-fight-mass-evictions-and-advance-race-equity-during-the-pandemic-and-beyond/ 

Boston Bar Association RTC Report 

• https://bostonbar.org/docs/default-document-library/rtc-report-for-web-or-email.pdf 

HFF Legislative Priority 5: An Act to Prevent COVID-19 Related Evictions

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in the early months of 2020, a temporary prohibition was placed on evictions and foreclosures in Massachusetts. This moratorium, however, was lifted just months later in October 2020. Since then, the state has faced a deadly second wave of the virus, and the housing crisis worsened significantly. The housing crisis took a dramatically disproportionate toll on communities of color and low-income households throughout Massachusetts. Since October, over 8,000 new eviction cases have been filed and over 1,000 “executions” have been issued to landlords, meaning these families can be forcibly removed from their homes by sheriffs or constables. Over 1,000 Massachusetts homeowners are currently at risk of foreclosure. 

Though some programs are providing important resources to prevent evictions, they have not nearly met the needs of the people of Massachusetts. Vulnerable residents are excluded from helpful programs due to the difficulty of navigating the process, and many homeowners are being denied forbearance, the delay of a foreclosure. 

What we need now more than ever is strong legislative action to prevent displacement, address the financial distress caused by the pandemic, and reduce the racial disparities and economic inequality that Massachusetts residents face. 

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What will this bill do?

Bill H.1434/S.891 builds on the eviction protections that were passed in the FY20 budget, Chapter 257 of the Acts of 2020. It closes loopholes in Federal protections which currently leave tenants and homeowners vulnerable, and ensures new federal rental assistance funds will reach those most in need.  

The COVID-19 Housing Equity Bill will: 

• Require landlords to pursue and cooperate with rental assistance programs before pursuing eviction 
• Protect the most vulnerable tenants from forced removal for COVID-19 debts 
• Pause no-fault evictions during the state of emergency and recovery period 
• Reinstate a pause on foreclosures and require forbearance based on federal policies 
• Require the state to adopt equitable principles, flexibility, and simplification in the distribution of rental assistance funds. 

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How to get involved: 

USE YOUR VOICE: contact your state representative to urge them to vote “yes” on this bill:    

You can find your State Representative and Senator HERE. These elected officials work for you, and it is immensely important that they hear from their constituents about what you want them to do as your representative. Here is a script you can use to email or call your representatives: 

Dear Representative/Senator [NAME],  

My name is [NAME] and I am Calling/Emailing on behalf of [ORGANIZATION]. I live in your district and wanted to talk to you about a piece of legislation that is crucial to helping end family homelessness in Massachusetts. This bill is incredibly important to me and I would really appreciate your advocacy, especially by co-sponsoring the bill.  

On any given night in our state, 18,471 people experience homelessness, a number that has more than doubled since 1990, and over 12,000 of them are in families with children. Since 2007, no other State in America has seen a larger increase in family homelessness. It doesn’t have to be this way! There are concrete laws that can be passed that will drastically transform Massachusetts into a State where homelessness really is brief, rare, and non-recurring.  

As your constituent, here is the bill I’d like you to co-sponsor and support: Bill H.1434/S.891: An act to prevent COVID-19 evictions and foreclosures and promote an equitable housing recovery. 

This bill would prevent evictions for the most vulnerable populations. Many of us have been financially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the most detrimental way. Through no fault of our own, we are facing housing instability. We need this bill to prevent foreclosures and evictions during the state of emergency and recovery period. 

Sincerely, [NAME] 

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• Find us on Twitter @HFFma 
• Find us on Facebook @homesforfamilies 

The lead sponsors of this Bill are: 

• Senator Patricia Jehlen, Representative Kevin Honan, & Representative Frank Moran 

To read the full Bill, please visit: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/SD1802 

HFF Legislative Priority 4: An Act Improving Emergency Housing Assistance

What will the Bill do?

Currently in front of the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities is Homes for Families’ fourth legislative priority: S.111/H.202, or by the bill’s full name, “An Act Improving Emergency Housing Assistance for Children and Families Experiencing Homelessness.” If this bill becomes law, the government would be required to immediately start providing emergency housing for people who have experienced self-declared housing insecurity. 

This bill would also establish an ombudsperson (an advocate) for participants of emergency housing programs such as EA Shelter and HomeBASE. If an issue arises in a program, such as a participant not having the required documentation, or when a conflict arises between participants and administrators, the ombudsperson can help mediate and resolve the issue. The ombudsperson is also tasked with writing an annual report to various legislative committees on these emergency housing programs. This report will provide information on program participants such as the number of requests for emergency housing assistance. 

An important aspect of S.111/H.202 is that families in shelter programs will only be required to provide documentation if the state cannot find their information through State databases themselves. Participants will be notified within 30 days of entering the program of any information needed to determine their eligibility. 

Lastly, this bill would allow applicants to self-certify their documentation for emergency housing eligibility during states of emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with this, emergency housing programs will continue for at least 90 days after the state of emergency has been declared over, and the 12-month waiting period that people must wait before re-entering housing programs that is currently in place would be waived. 

S.111/H.202 currently has 35 total co-sponsors. To see if your Rep/Senator have signed on to support, check the MA Legislature website here:

H. 202: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/H202/BillHistory 

S. 111: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/S111 

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How Can You Help?

We are asking for your help to continue to advocate for this bill by emailing or calling your state Representative and Senator.

You can find your State Representative and Senator HERE. These elected officials work for you, and it is immensely important that they hear from their constituents about what you want them to do as your representative. Here is a script you can use to email or call your representatives: 

Dear Representative/Senator [NAME],  

My name is [NAME] and I am Emailing on behalf of [ORGANIZATION]. I live in your district and wanted to talk to you about a piece of legislation that is crucial to helping end family homelessness in Massachusetts. This bill is incredibly important to me and I would really appreciate your advocacy around, especially by co-sponsoring the bill.  

On any given night in our state, 18,471 people experience homelessness, a number that has more than doubled since 1990, and over 12,000 of them are in families with children. Since 2007, no other State in America has seen a larger increase in family homelessness. It doesn’t have to be this way! There are concrete laws that can be passed that will drastically transform Massachusetts into a State where homelessness really is brief, rare, and non-recurring.  

As your constituent, here is the bill I’d like you to co-sponsor and support: 

Find your Legislators: https://malegislature.gov/Legislators 

HFF Legislative Priority 3: Codifying RAFT

We at Homes for Families believe that we must be proactive in preventing homelessness, propping up families who need assistance, making sure they do not lose their housing because of a few missed payments, and not letting them fall through the cracks. One of our top legislative priorities is strengthening the Rental Assistance to Families in Transition (RAFT) program, which seeks to achieve this very mission. This year we are advocating for the passage of H.1385: An Act Providing Upstream Homelessness Prevention Assistance to Families, Youth, and Adults.  

This bill, filed by Representative Decker and Rep. Miranda, seeks to codify RAFT into state law. 31 other Representatives have joined Decker and Miranda in co-sponsoring H.1385 thus far, and with your support, we believe more can follow their lead. 

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How does the current RAFT program work? 

Administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), RAFT is a state-funded homelessness prevention program that provides short-term financial assistance to at-risk households. Because of RAFT funding, thousands of very low-income Massachusetts families and individuals are able to maintain residential stability even during periods of financial crisis or hardship. Households receive services and cash benefits in order to either preserve their current housing or obtain new housing, not exceeding the total amount of their actual liabilities. Although the maximum benefit per household (of combined RAFT and HomeBASE funds) is typically $4,000 over a 12-month period, in the six months following the end of the COVID-19 state of emergency (through December 31, 2021), qualifying households may receive up to $10,000 in benefits (and $7,000 over a 12-month period through June 30, 2022), which they can use to pay off rental, mortgage, or utility arrearages, furniture costs, and moving expenses. Eligible households may apply through their local Housing Consumer Education Center. 

To qualify, households must be: 

• At risk of homelessness, eviction, foreclosure, or utility shut-off within the next 12 months 
• At or below 50 percent of their local Average Median Income (AMI)  
• Or at or below 60 percent of AMI in households at risk of harm and housing insecurity due to domestic violence 

Landlords with 20 or fewer units that have the consent of their qualifying tenants may also apply on their behalf. Applicants must prove, with certified statements from the parties concerned, both their outstanding fees and inability to pay these fees. 

This program is especially designed to target families with children under 21, seniors, people with disabilities, and unaccompanied youths, although anyone who fits the above criteria may apply, including individuals without American citizenship. Families with an income at or below 30 percent of the local AMI may receive 50 to 100 percent of the maximum funds available, while those between 30 and 50 percent (or 60 percent in domestic violence situations) of the AMI may receive up to 50% of the maximum benefit cap. DHCD is required to provide at least 50 percent of the funds to households earning 30 percent of AMI or below and must prioritize the families who would otherwise need to enter the Emergency Assistance (EA) system. 

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Budget history of RAFT: 

RAFT was funded at $72,000,000 for the state fiscal year 2021, but the RAFT allocation in the newest budget proposals—potentially as low as $16,274,232—fails to meet the needs of households who are still struggling with housing and job insecurity. 

Fiscal Year	Governor’s Budget	House Budget	Senate Budget	Final Budget
2005				$2,000,000
2006				$5,000,000
2007				$5,000,000
2008				$5,000,000
2009				$5,500,000
2010				$160,000
2011				$260,000
2012	$260,000	$260,000	$260,000	$260,000
2013	$8,760,000	N/A	$8,760,000	$8,760,000
2014	$8,760,000	$8,760,000	$11,106,000	$10,000,000
2015	$9,500,000	$11,000,000	$10,500,000	$11,000,000
2016	$11,000,000	$12,000,000	$13,000,000	$12,500,000
2017	$12,500,000	$12,500,000	$13,000,000	$13,000,000
2018	$13,000,000	$15,000,000	$18,500,000	$15,000,000
2019	$15,000,000	$17,000,000	$18,500,000	$20,000,000
2020	$15,274,232	$15,274,232	$16,274,232	$16,303,871
2021	$13,642,337	$50,000,000	$50,000,000	$72,000,000
2022	$16,274,232	$22,000,000	$16,274,232	?

The budget process is notoriously inconsistent as legislators are under no obligation to fully fund simple line items. Take, for example, the 97% drop in RAFT funding from FY2009 to FY2010 at the start of the Great Recession. States are required to balance their budgets, and when funds are limited, most programs suffer cutbacks, but RAFT plays an integral role during economic downturns by providing people with a financial safety net until conditions improve, which also hastens recovery. Instead, families were deprived of assistance when they needed it the most. If H.1385 passes and RAFT is codified into state statute, legislators would be under greater pressure and scrutiny regarding their RAFT funding decisions and it is unlikely that we would see such an outcome again. 

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What would the bill do? 

This bill would codify RAFT by amending Chapter 23B of the General Laws of the Commonwealth, streamline and accelerate household access to benefits, provide households with extra supportive services, improve collaboration between administering agencies, and mandate detailed reports on applications, recipient households, and funding uses be issued annually by December 31. 

Crucially, the bill allows households to access benefits to offset future costs in addition to current liabilities, preventing those with forthcoming payment obligations from slipping into arrears, which poses great threat to their housing security. Households would also no longer be subject to a cap on their benefits, allowing them to fully clear their arrearages and future costs. 

Moratoriums delayed eviction and foreclosure due to non-payment but did not cancel those missed rent and mortgage payments. With the federal eviction moratorium set to expire on the 31st of this month, ensuring the RAFT program helps as many households as possible is more vital than ever. Passing H.1385 will ensure that RAFT continues to protect and uplift Massachusetts households.  

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How can you help? 

1. Write/call your elected officials:  

You can find your State Representative and Senator HERE. These elected officials work for you, and it is immensely important that they hear from their constituents about what you want them to do as your representative. Here is a script you can use to email or call your representatives:   

Dear Representative/Senator [NAME],   

My name is [NAME] and I am Emailing on behalf of [ORGANIZATION]. I live in your district and wanted to talk to you about a piece of legislation that is crucial to helping end family homelessness in Massachusetts. This bill is incredibly important to me, and I would really appreciate your advocacy around it, especially by co-sponsoring the bill.   

On any given night in our state, 18,471 people experience homelessness, a number that has more than doubled since 1990, and over 12,000 of them are in families with children. Since 2007, no other state in America has seen a larger increase in family homelessness. It doesn’t have to be this way! There are concrete laws that can be passed that will drastically transform Massachusetts into a State where homelessness really is brief, rare, and non-recurring.   

As your constituent, here is the bill I’d like you to co-sponsor and support: H.1385: An Act Providing Upstream Homelessness Prevention Assistance to Families, Youth, and Adults. 

This bill would put RAFT into state statute and direct DHCD to provide much-needed renewals of financial assistance to protect the housing of families who would otherwise face homelessness. 

Sincerely, [NAME] 

2. Use social media! 

Join HFF on social media to spread the word on RAFT 

3. Sign the organizational endorsement form! 

Support our partners over at Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless and have your organization endorse H.1385 through the following link: 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfuM1LcISt4x2o9yXGxix7iGl8K8wbZnkMSJ9kk5eiQh2AWvw/viewform 

HFF Legislative Priority 2: Codifying HomeBASE

We at Homes for Families advocate for the implementation of both permanent and emergency legislative solutions to eliminate family homelessness. One of these pieces of legislation that, in conjunction with vouchers and other forms of social assistance, can help families access more permanent housing options is H.1372: An Act Promoting Housing Stability for Families by Strengthening the HomeBASE Program. H.1372 is one of Homes for Families’ top 3 legislative priorities because it would fortify and improve one of the key homelessness prevention programs in the Commonwealth. 
 
Championed by lead sponsor and state Representative Christine Barber, H.1372 is a first-time filed bill that would codify HomeBASE, Massachusetts’ re-housing benefit program, into state statute. Barber is currently joined by twenty-two other Representative co-sponsors; we hope that with your help, this list will grow.

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How does the current HomeBASE system work? 

HomeBASE is a program administered by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) designed to divert families from entering shelter, and get families already in shelter out. The program provides a maximum of $10,000 in rental assistance over the course of one year to qualified recipients. This can come in the form of the first and last month’s rent for a new home, a security deposit at a new home, furniture, a monthly stipend to help pay rent for up to one year, utilities, or travel costs. 

The amount and type of assistance is based on a family’s needs and is determined through an assessment. HomeBASE additionally provides a designated stabilization worker for each family to help access community supports and offer resources to resolve issues that may arise, including tenancy-related issues. Families enjoy the support of a case manager and may access agency resources such as:

• Education
• Workforce development
• Child care
• Other support to ensure they succeed as new tenants

The major problem with HomeBASE is that despite offering a wide range of economic supports, there is currently no way for families to renew the program, meaning that many families face a return to homelessness after their one year of assistance expires.   
 
While renewals are the biggest issue with the program, there are also problems with the housing stabilization planning infrastructure. HomeBASE mandates that participating families have a clear housing stabilization plan that is made in conjunction with a case worker, but many families do not even know about this requirement. Other important issues include reports of coercion and poor data tracking; many families feel as if they are forced to take HomeBASE benefits if it is determined that they have been in the shelter system for too long, even if they don’t like the housing situation they are being forced into. 

In regards to the poor data tracking, the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) has no requirement to report on the race and ethnicity of HomeBASE families, resulting in a lack of knowledge regarding which groups would most benefit from the program.

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Brief History of HomeBASE

Below is a table that displays the amount of funding HomeBASE has received over the last 11 fiscal years. As you can see, the program’s funding has dropped off by a substantial margin in that time. From its peak in FY2013 to now in FY2021, HomeBASE experienced a $50 million decrease in funding, or 65%. With housing instability exacerbated by the pandemic, it is critical that the HomeBASE program returns to its maximum funding levels from 2013. As it currently stands, the program is simply not as effective as it can be. 

Fiscal Year	Governor’s Budget	House Budget	Senate Budget	Final Budget
2012	38,561,732	38,561,732	38,561,732	38,561,732
2013	83,374,371	83,374,371	90,787,766	83,374,371
2014	58,788,556	58,963,556	58,788,556	58,963,556
2015	24,322,911	25,955,535	24,203,353	25,955,535
2016	26,249,331	31,250,331	26,249,331	31,249,331
2017	31,943,664	31,943,664	31,943,664	31,943,664
2018	31,079,696	31,079,696	32,579,696	30,147,305
2019	30,147,305	32,000,000	30,147,305	32,000,000
2020	25,825,000	25,825,000	25,825,000	25,825,000
2021	27,158,178	25,825,000	27,158,178	29,058,618
2022	25,970,612	25,970,612	25,970,612	?

One of the main reasons that this bill seeks to codify the program is that if it is written into state statute, HomeBASE will no longer be subject to the whims of the budget process, which as the table above clearly demonstrates, often leads to the radical decrease in funding for crucial programs.

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What will this bill do? 

The goal of H.1372 is to codify HomeBASE into state statute and allow families who are facing a return to homelessness due to their benefits expiring after one year the ability to renew. 
 
What often happens is that after the year of benefits is up, families are no closer to securing permanent housing than they were when they arrived in shelter, which means that allowing these benefits to expire would result in families becoming homeless again. This bill would direct DHCD to allow families to re-up with HomeBASE “in cases where a.) the family complied with their rehousing plan during the prior period of assistance, b.) continues to include a child under the age of 21 or a pregnant person, and c.) has a gross income that does not exceed 50 percent of area median income or has not had income in excess of said 50 percent level for a period of six months.” 
 
Another vital feature to H.1372 is what the bill does to de-link HomeBASE and Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT). While HomeBASE works to help families out of the shelter system into stable housing, RAFT tries to make sure families do not enter, or re-enter, the EA system in the first place. The language in H.1372 gives families the opportunity to combine funds from HomeBASE and RAFT if they so qualify for both. 

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How can you help?

Write/call your elected officials:

You can find your State Representative and Senator HERE. These elected officials work for you, and it is immensely important that they hear from their constituents about what you want them to do as your representative. Here is a script you can use to email or call your representatives:  
 
Dear Representative/Senator [NAME],  
 
My name is [NAME] and I am Emailing on behalf of [ORGANIZATION]. I live in your district and wanted to talk to you about a piece of legislation that is crucial to helping end family homelessness in Massachusetts. This bill is incredibly important to me, and I would really appreciate your advocacy around it, especially by co-sponsoring the bill.  
 
On any given night in our state, 18,471 people experience homelessness, a number that has more than doubled since 1990, and over 12,000 of them are in families with children. Since 2007, no other state in America has seen a larger increase in family homelessness. It doesn’t have to be this way! There are concrete laws that can be passed that will drastically transform Massachusetts into a State where homelessness really is brief, rare, and non-recurring.  
 
As your constituent, here is the bill I’d like you to co-sponsor and support: H.1372: An Act Promoting Housing Stability for Families by Strengthening the HomeBASE Program  
 
This bill would put HomeBASE into state statute and direct DHCD to provide much-needed renewals of rental assistance to families who would otherwise face a return to homelessness. 
 
Sincerely, [NAME] 
 
2. Use social media! 

Join HFF on social media to spread the word on HomeBASE.  
 
3. Sign the organizational endorsement form!

Join our partners over at Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless and have your organization endorse H.1372 through the following link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdoK1j671xAqTpJ23GMDCJm-8r1vBwe3oCsQ3_a8I_IQeExMg/viewform. 

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Please use the following fact sheet when reaching out to your Representatives and Senators and spreading the word about this bill!

HFF Legislative Priority 1: Codifying the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program

We at Homes for Families believe that housing vouchers are the single best way to eradicate homelessness on a large scale, which is why strengthening the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP) has been our top legislative priority for decades. This year is no different; the primary bill we are advocating for is H.1428/S.898: An Act Codifying the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program.

MRVP is the State’s largest rental assistance program and a tested, but currently vastly underfunded resource to help extremely low income households avoid homelessness and leave shelters. In 1990, MRVP assisted 20,000 households; today, it assists less than 9,000. This bill, filed by Rep. Madaro and Senator Lovely, will strengthen MRVP by codifying the program into state statute, increasing its funding, reducing the voucher holder’s rent liability, requiring unit inspections, and increasing data sharing.

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How does the current MRVP system work:

The Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program offers both tenant and project based rental subsidies. The tenant-based voucher, which is known as Mobile, is assigned to the Participant and is valid for any housing unit that meets the standards of the state sanitary code. Project Based vouchers are assigned to a specific housing unit or development. The owner rents these units to a program eligible tenant, and Project Based tenants who move forfeit the subsidy. The voucher holder pays 40% of their income towards rent, while the remainder of the rent is covered by the voucher.

With both mobile and Project based vouchers, regional non-profit housing agency or a local housing authority administer the program locally. There are currently 8 regional non-profit housing agencies and 112 local housing authorities that administer the MRVP throughout the Commonwealth. Through the assistance of this program, thousands of Massachusetts’ families and individuals benefit from the long-term stabilization of their often uncertain housing and financial situation.

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Brief History of MRVP

Despite the fact that vouchers have historically proven to be the best tool to combat homelessness, funding for MRVP has changed drastically since its inception in the 1966 (The program was referred to then as Section 707, and later renamed MRVP in 1992). For the first 25 years that the program existed, funding grew steadily, peaking in 1990 when MRVP was funded at $120 million and served over 20,000 households. Massachusetts has never returned to this level of funding and voucher utilization.

Between 1990 and 2006, the budget for MRVP was slashed year after year and the number of households with vouchers decreased from 20,000 to about 4,500 in 2006. Our friends at CHAPA published a report with the following table showing how voucher utilization decreased during the 1990’s and early 2000’s.

Year	Total Vouchers	Tenant Based	Project Based
1992	16,613	11,243	5,470
1993	13,885	8,766	5,119
1996	10,292	5,650	4,642
1999	7,871	3,600	4,271
2000	7,310	3,114	4,196
2003	5,858	2,340	3,518
2009	5,171	2,164	3,007

Funding for MRVP was slashed all the way down to about $24 million by the turn of the decade, and the homelessness crisis was exacerbated because of it. Homes for Families, together with the Housing Solutions Campaign, has been fighting to restore funding for this crucial program ever since then.

In a 15 year span, from FY2006 to FY2021, funding for MRVP has increased from $26M to $120M (an increase of 460%!), and finally back to the level of funding at its 1990 peak. We are also optimistic that the level of funding for this year will increase to approximately $150,000,000. Below is a breakdown of how funding for MRVP has increased since FY2013.

MRVP	Governor’s Budget	House Budget	Senate Budget	Final Budget
FY2013	46,040,000	46,500,000	42,000,000	42,000,000
FY2014	46,500,000	46,500,000	57,500,000	57,500,000
FY2015	57,500,000	60,500,000	70,000,000	65,000,000
FY2016	75,421,578	90,931,597	85,421,578	90,931,597
FY2017	82,931,597	100,000,000	100,000,000	85,347,706
FY2018	97,503,438	100,000,000	100,000,000	92,734,677
FY2019	97,469,569	100,000,000	97,469,569	100,000,000
FY2020	100,000,000	110,000,000	104,000,000	110,000,000
FY2021	112,167,549	125,500,000	125,501,294	125,501,294
FY2022	122,645,860	150,000,000	150,000,000	?

Funding for MRVP

It is important to note that the $120,000,00 that was allocated to MRVP in 1990 is equivalent to far more than that in today’s dollars. When factoring in inflation, 120 million in 1990 is equal to just under 250 million in 2021, meaning that funding for MRVP is still miles behind where is used to be. While getting back to the level of funding from the 1990’s was certainly a big achievement, the next goal is to restore the funding if the program had kept pace with inflation.

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What will this bill do?

H.1428/S.898: An Act Codifying the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program will strengthen MRVP in several important ways. This bill will enshrine MRVP into state statute, meaning that the program will no longer be subject to a budget process that changes on a whim year after year. Codifying the program will protect MRVP and ensure its sustainability, while also allowing important changes to be made.

The most significant change in this bill is that it would mandate that voucher holders pay no more than 30% of their income towards rent. Currently, voucher holders are expected to pay “between 30% and 40%”, which invariably leads to tenants to paying 40% in order to secure housing. Lowering the tenant rent share by 10% would significantly enhance MRVP by allowing voucher holders to keep more of their income in pocket. Everybody knows the 30% rule when it comes to housing, so asking our most vulnerable citizens to pay 40% is unjust and unnecessary. If funding for MRVP continues on its upward trajectory, the program can certainly cover the cost that comes with lowering the voucher holder rent share.

It is also important to note that the federal section 8 voucher program only requires those with vouchers to pay 30% of their income towards rent, which further begs the question why MRVP requires 40%. Aligning the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program with the more generous federal section 8 program is one of the chief objectives of the bill.

H.1428.S.898 will also create a centralized voucher management system that will collect data on utilization, race, ethnicity, income, and other important metrics, and require that DHCD submit an annual report to the Housing Committee on the program. More data will lead to increased transparency, equity, and accountability, and ensure that the program evolves with demographic changes in our state.

Finally, the bill will stipulate that the administering agency must inspect each unit before any assistance payment is made to determine whether it meets the minimum standards of fitness for human habitation as required by the State Sanitary Code. These inspections must continue no less than every two years during the term of assistance. This recommendation comes directly from dozens of families with lived experience that HFF has partnered with who have reported that the units they moved into with their vouchers were not sanitary and ready to be lived in. Requiring unit inspection is another way that we can more closely align MRVP with the section 8 program and ensure that no family moves into an apartment with substandard living conditions.

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How can you help?

1. Write/call your elected officials.  

You can find your State Representative and Senator HERE. These elected officials work for you, and it is immensely important that they hear from their constituents about what you want them to do as your representative. Here is a script you can use to email or call your representatives:

Dear Representative/Senator [NAME], 

My name is [NAME] and I am Emailing on behalf of [ORGANIZATION]. I live in your district and wanted to talk to you about a piece of legislation that is crucial to helping end family homelessness in Massachusetts. This bill is incredibly important to me and I would really appreciate your advocacy around, especially by co-sponsoring the bill. 

On any given night in our state, 18,471 people experience homelessness, a number that has more than doubled since 1990, and over 12,000 of them are in families with children. Since 2007, no other State in America has seen a larger increase in family homelessness. It doesn’t have to be this way! There are concrete laws that can be passed that will drastically transform Massachusetts into a State where homelessness really is brief, rare, and non-recurring. 

As your constituent, here is the bill I’d like you to co-sponsor and support: 

HD.3277/SD.1899: An Act codifying the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program 

This bill would put the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program into state statute, and reduce tenant share of rent from 40% to 30% of income, as well as making several other changes to the program to make it more generous and equitable.

Sincerely, [NAME]

You can also reference the fact sheet below, as well as our legislative action toolkit for more resources!

2. Use social media! 

Join HFF on social media to spread the word on MRVP. In our toolkit, you will find sample posts and Cookie Day GIFs that you can share with or tweet to your legislators. 

Tweet directly at your Representatives and Senators! 

Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP)

The Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) is a new program created by the Federal government as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. This program is administered by the U.S. Treasury Department and provides Federal money to State governments, U.S. Territories, and local governments with more than 200,000 residents. These State-level and Municipal governments then distribute the money they received from the Federal government to individual households and landlords, usually using the money they received to fund already existing housing programs. Both renters and landlords can apply for ERAP funds but they cannot receive funds directly from the Federal government, they must go through State and Municipal government offices and programs. 

Since the passage of the American Rescue Plan in 2021, ERAP has undergone several important changes, although there are still many similarities between the two versions. One of the most significant changes has been that a household can now receive 18 months of assistance in total, whereas before it was only 12 months of benefits. 

While programs such as Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) has an income eligibility limit of 50%, and 60% for victims of domestic violence, renters can apply for ERAP assistance if their income is up to 80% of Area Median Income (AMI). To qualify, renters must be at risk of homelessness or housing instability due to COVID-19. This instability can be due to unemployment, decreased wages, or increased expenses. Renters may receive assistance with rent and utilities that were accrued since March 13, 2020.  

In Massachusetts the specific qualifications to qualify for ERAP are: 

• The applicant must be able to prove that you have faced financial hardship due to Covid-19. 
• The renter household income must be at or below 80 percent of the area median income 
• At least one or more individuals living in the household must qualify for unemployment or has experienced a reduction in household income, incurred significant costs, or experienced a financial hardship die to COVID-19 
• The applicant can demonstrate a risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability 

If you are in Massachusetts and looking to apply for this program or want more information you can click this link: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/emergency-housing-assistance-during-covid-19.

U.S. Department of the Treasury Press Release: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm1228

Information for landlords on emergency housing assistance: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/information-for-landlords-on-emergency-housing-assistance

Please email Director of Policy Benjamin Daly at bdaly@homesforfamilies.org with any questions, comments, or concerns!