BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — A new report from MIT, looking back at three years of data, found that 70% of market-rate evictions in Boston happen in communities of color.
The report also found that 37% of market-rate evictions happen in neighborhoods where the majority of residents are black. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, 78% of all evictions were in communities of color.
Lisa Owens, executive director of City Life/Vida Urbana, said legal protections enacted during the coronavirus pandemic for people unable to make rent or mortgage payments end on August 18.
“What that means is that thousands of families in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will be left in a worse position than they were at the beginning of the pandemic,” Owens said.
Owens said City Life and other community groups are working with several lawmakers on a comprehensive package of legislation designed to protect vulnerable communities and tenants. That will be filed on Tuesday.
WBZ NewsRadio's Art Cohen (@artcohenboston) reports
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