Photo: Mike Macklin/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Hundreds of Boston tenants rallied on the State House Grand Staircase on Tuesday in support of rent stabilization in Massachusetts.
Statewide rent control was outlawed in 1994, but since then, organizations such as Homes For All have been working towards reestablishing it.
Executive Director of Homes For All Carolyn Chou talked about how massive rent increases make stabilization necessary for avoiding community displacement.
“We need common sense rent stabilization policies passed now. We’re seeing tenants get 50%, 75% rent increases,” Chou said. “We are seeing more and more people that have to leave their cities and towns and even leave the state because of these rent increases.”
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Chou laid out exactly what she thinks the ideal rent control policies would be.
“We’re talking about reasonable caps to rent increases, so we’re talking about caps tied to the cost of living with no more than 5% and banning no fault evictions,” she said. “We are saying that cities and towns should be able to enact such a policy.”
A legislative committee held a hearing Tuesday afternoon to propose a rent control policy, but from what House Representative Ron Mariano had to say on the matter, passing stabilization isn’t as certain as those rallying may hope.
“The session ends Thursday, there's no rent control piece in front of me,” Mariano said.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Mike Macklin (@mikemacklinwbz) reports.