After CDC Moratorium Struck Down by U.S. Supreme Court, Acting Mayor Janey Imposes Local Residential Eviction Moratorium Through Boston Public Health Commission
Update (Oct. 29, 2021): Mattapan Property Owner and Local Constable File Lawsuit Challenging Boston’s Eviction Moratorium
After the U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down the nationwide eviction moratorium imposed by the Centers for Disease Control, President Biden urged local cities and municipalities to impose eviction moratoriums at the local level. Boston Acting Mayor Kim Janey wasted no time in following that call to arms, imposing 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 (embedded below) 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 order does not apply in cases involving “serious violations” of the terms of a tenancy that impair the health and safety of other building residents or immediately adjacent neighbors.”
As the title to this post indicates, my opinion is that this order is completely unlawful on several grounds. It 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). The order would also run afoul of several constitutional principles (5th Amendment, Contracts Clause, access to courts) which we raised in our previous challenge to the statewide eviction moratorium in federal court.
In discussions with the Eastern (Boston) Housing Court officials, they have indicated they are not bound by the order and that executions for possession (move out orders) will continue to be issued by the Clerk’s Office. Interestingly, the order itself does not specifically apply to the courts, only to a landlord or owner, and only targets the very last step in the eviction process, the levy of execution. The number of forced move outs in Boston remains very small — estimates are that only about 200 cases have reached this final stage during the pandemic. Formal guidance is expected within the next few days. We have had discussions with several landlords about filing a legal challenge to the new moratorium.
As reported in the Boston Globe, Boston housing chief Sheila Dillon said city officials began discussing a local moratorium on Friday after the Supreme Court’s ruling. The city has focused on helping struggling tenants obtain rent relief — some 12,500 households in Boston have received about $72 million in state and local aid, she said — but officials are also worried about an immediate spike in evictions now that the federal ban is gone. And despite the potential for lawsuits challenging the ban, Dillon said, they decided to do what they could now. “We anticipate that there may be some legal challenges to this,” Dillon said. “We felt it was really important to try. We do think evictions are a public health issue.”
{ 0 comments }
