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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — The Cambridge City Council unanimously voted to support a policy order that would help tenants get access to legal representation in eviction court.
During Monday’s City Council meeting, the policy was brought to a vote. It was sponsored by Councilors Sumbul Siddiqui, Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, Burhan Azeem, and Ayesha M. Wilson, as well as Vice Mayor Marc C. McGovern.
The policy order explained that the amount of local evictions has been increasing, which is partially due to pandemic-related policies expiring.
The policy’s sponsors also pointed to data from the State Trial Court that shows 90% of landlords and management companies have legal representation in eviction court, while only 10% of tenants have lawyers. They added that eviction case outcomes reflected this legal resource imbalance.
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Some landlords even supported the new policy. One said that the City Council’s decision “just levels the field a little bit, because if you don’t have the resources then it’s a jungle to figure those things out.”
The landlord of 20 years added that “I think it’s a great idea. I support it.”
And renters also voiced their approval of the policy. This Cambridge renter said, “You know, the legal representation: that’s great, that makes sense.”
However, he went on to say that this policy is not addressing the larger issue of rent costs in Cambridge. “But all that [the policy order is] doing, in my opinion, is probably just putting a Band-Aid on the bigger problem of rent just being too expensive around here.”
Now that the policy order has been passed by councilors, the Cambridge City Manager has been asked to evaluate the city’s resources to help tenants who qualify for legal aid based on certain income levels.
The policy also ordered that the Cambridge City Council go on record endorsing Gov. Maura Healey’s budget request and House Bill 4360, which aims to address accessibility to legal aid in tenant eviction cases across the state.
That bill was favorably reported by the Joint Committee on the Judiciary and was referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
WBZ NewsRadio's James Rojas (@JamesRojasMMJ) reports.
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