Lawsuit Filed On Behalf of Elderly Mattapan Homeowner Owed $29,000 in Rent, and Local Constable
Updated (Nov. 29, 2021) — Housing Court Justice Irene Bagdoian Strikes Down Boston Eviction Moratorium
A new lawsuit challenging the recent City of Boston Eviction Moratorium Order was filed this week in Eastern (Boston) Housing Court. The case will be before Judge Irene Bagdoian. The lawsuit was filed by veteran landlord attorney, Jordana Greenman, Esq. and Mitch Matorin, both of whom worked on the federal and state challenge to the Gov. Baker Eviction Moratorium. I will be assisting the team as needed, and will hopefully be able to file a “friend-of-the-court” brief in support.
After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the nationwide eviction moratorium imposed by the Centers for Disease Control, Boston Acting Mayor Kim Janey imposed a city-wide residential eviction moratorium effective August 31, 2021, which is in place indefinitely until the Boston Public Health Commission decides to terminate it, in its sole discretion. The order provides that “no landlord and/or owner shall serve or cause the service of notice of levy upon an eviction, or otherwise enforce a residential eviction upon a resident of Boston while this order is in effect.”
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Janet Avila, a Mattapan woman whose tenant owed her $29,000 in back rent. That eviction was blocked by state and then federal bans that were in place through much of the pandemic. In August, however, the Housing Court issued a final ruling in the case, allowing Avila to evict the tenant. That same day, Acting Mayor Janey announced the moratorium. She’s stuck with this tenant now and faces severe financial hardship. The other plaintiff is David Boudreau, a constable who the city has blocked from executing evictions. The city has also taken the unusual step of issuing a threatening letter to all licensed city constables to abide by the eviction moratorium lest their licenses be in peril.
As outlined in the lawsuit complaint linked below, the Boston Order is a clear violation of the Home Rule Amendment which prohibits local orders in direct conflict with state law (evictions). Boston would need full state legislative approval for such an eviction moratorium which it does not have. The order also appears to exceed the statutory authority of the Public Health Commission (similar to the reasoning of the Supreme Court in striking down the CDC moratorium). Indeed, Acting Mayor Janey made public statements acknowledging the questionable legality of the Order, but decided to enact it anyways during a hotly contested mayoral primary race.
In reality, the Boston Eviction Moratorium is preventing only the most troublesome tenants from being evicted. The vast majority of evictions are being funded and resolved without any forced move-outs with the influx of federal and state rental aid. However, there are many “no-fault” cases filed by property owners who want to move back into rental homes, where leases have expired, or where the landlord-tenant relationship has just soured. The Boston Order would make innocent landlords like Ms. Avila, stuck in those bad situations.
The Housing Court has scheduled an initial hearing in the case for Nov. 9. We expect the City and tenant advocates to mount a vigorous defense to this lawsuit.
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