Massachusetts Eviction Moratorium Lawsuit

[Michael Lamando]

Here is a link to the lawsuit article:

https://bostonagentmagazine.com/2020/05/29/lawsuit-challenges-statewide-eviction-foreclosure-moratorium/

Thank God.

The blanket moratorium without care and detail leaves landlords holding the bag and provides no checks and balances for tenants to abuse and lie about their situations.

I think that the total lack of care, accountability and specifics when creating the eviction moratorium is gross negligence regardless of the state of the emergency. They could have at least gone back into session after the initial passage, and refined the terms of the moratorium and amended it.

For example, the tenant should be required to notify the government of their previous salary before they were laid off, and their new income under the unemployment benefits, and also the name/address of their landlord. 

The government should then analyze this, and notify the landlord of the income increase or decrease. Things should be discoverable out in the open and this will prevent abuse and deceit of tenants to their landlord.

Only the tenants that have truly suffered income loss should be protected under the eviction moratorium, and furthermore if the government really cared they should provide direct rent assistance to the tenant by paying the missing income amount to the landlord directly for the rent until the emergency is lifted and the tenant has found employment.

I think the government has no leg to stand on other than to say they were acting out of emergency. 

Just my opinion...

Here is a link to the docket:
https://www.ma-appellatecourts.org/docket/SJ-2020-0442

[Patrick M.]

Here in NJ it is set to expire 2 months after the crisis is over. 

Given that the states are now talking about "Phased" opening and incremental relaxations someone needs to tell us when the crisis will officially be over?

Litigation is a matter of last resort, but there has been no attempt to discuss the effects of these orders nor any attempt to open a dialogue with landlords. What they have done is seized upon the public's dislike of landlords and fanned the fires of discontent.

Someone needs to force them to the table, and in this case the only way to do that is through the courts, regardless of whether they can hear cases next week or not- they need to know that it is not OK.

In the last 20 years we have gotten way to comfortable in this country with law by executive fiat.