According to the Biden administration, the COVID pandemic ended two weeks ago. But the damage continues.
This week the State Senate passed an amendment to continue the COVID eviction moratorium. It is never going away.
If approved, the program would require eviction cases based on nonpayment of rent to be stopped if a tenant has applied for rental assistance from the state. That’s quite the loophole for the tenant and yet another big burden for already hard-pressed landlords who must come up with the mortgage payment, property taxes, utilities etc. every month.
According to the State House News Service, “Courts would be required to notify the state of any suspended eviction cases so officials could expedite a pending aid application. For tenants to get the case paused, their application for aid would need to be ‘made in good faith.’”
The state would “expedite” an application? How long would that take? Are we talking Registry of Motor Vehicles-style “expedited” wait times? You cannot get an appointment to obtain Real ID for months. Even today, there are no appointments available on the Registry website. How long is the landlord supposed to carry the deadbeat?
What’s the justification for stiffing the landlord now? Everywhere you look there are signs saying “Help Wanted.” The MBTA is offering a $7500 bonus to new hires. (Not so long ago, potential T employees had to bribe politicians to get “on the T.” That’s how quickly, and how much, things have changed since the explosion of welfare handouts in the last three years.)
With employment opportunities so plentiful, why do these tenants still rate a third or fourth year of a total free ride?
The pandemic is O-V-E-R.
We are supposed to believe that the loophole would not be abused because the application must be “made in good faith.”
Are they kidding?
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that every tenant who is facing eviction for not paying is going to apply to get more free months of rent. Their “advocates” (paid by our tax dollars) will make sure their non-working-class “clients” grab every legal handout there is – and then some.
Our state laws already greatly favor renters over landlords. That’s why financial advisers sternly warn investors not to buy rental properties in Massachusetts (or in almost any other Democrat-run state, for that matter).
With this crackpot COVID-era law becoming permanent, no one will be investing in the Commonwealth. And these idiots at the State House are constantly perplexed as to why housing is so expensive. If no one invests that means less new construction, fewer rental units and…. higher prices.
There is another slap in the face for landlords in this new legislation. If the rental aid is eventually paid to the landlord, tenants can petition to seal the court record. That means future landlords will not know who the deadbeats are and who is gaming the system. They can leave a trail of wreckage behind them, as so many Section 8 tenants in public housing already do. The War on Poverty continues, and poverty continues to win, effortlessly.
Bad enough that the CORI law was gutted, making it more difficult for employers to find out if they’re hiring thugs. Now a potential landlord can’t find out if he’s dealing with a career deadbeat.
The amount of stupidity on Beacon Hill never ceases to amaze me. I’ll bet most of them still wear a mask in the car.