BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Landlords in Massachusetts are suing the state, after it extended a moratorium on evictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Attorney Richard Vetstein, the plaintiffs of the lawsuits are working-class property owners, who have found themselves in dire straits due to tenants who aren't paying rent.
"One of my clients... is owed approximately $20,000," Vetstein told WBZ NewsRadio. "She's a nurse in Brockton, on limited means, and she's in real serious financial trouble due in large part to ... tenants who refuse to move out, and are not paying her."
The lawsuits, which were filed Friday in both Suffolk Superior Court and federal courts, accuse the state of violating the landowners' constitutional rights by extending a moratorium on evictions through the end of October.
Among other charges, the suit says the state has deprived the landlords of their rights to petition the judiciary, effectively depriving them of their property without "just compensation."
WBZ NewsRadio's Kendall Buhl reports:
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