For Immediate Release: October 18, 2022
Contact: Christine Dunn
christine@sevenletter.com | 617.646.1044

New rules in rental assistance program will increase evictions, loss of housing and homelessness

Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, and Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association, together with over 160 organizations and elected officials across the state, sent a letter to Massachusetts legislative leaders, legislators, and the Baker Administration, requesting the removal of a new, harmful requirement in the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) program. The requirement, effective August 1, 2022, is preventing qualified households from accessing needed benefits which is prompting preventable evictions, forcing households to fall further behind in rent, and putting them at greater risk of homelessness.

RAFT is a state homelessness prevention program that provides critical financial assistance to households struggling with rent to help preserve their housing and prevent eviction. Recently, the Massachusetts Department of the Housing and Community Development (DHCD), the state agency that administers the RAFT program, began requiring tenants who are seeking aid to have a “notice to quit” (NTQ) from their landlord to be eligible for assistance. The NTQ is a legal document that terminates a tenancy and provides notice of the landlord’s intent to file an eviction case in court. 

After receiving an NTQ, many tenants immediately vacate their units and never seek access to rental assistance programs like RAFT. In addition, many of the most vulnerable tenants are threatened or harassed by landlords for overdue rent but never receive a NTQ, and therefore would be ineligible for rental assistance. These tenants are often informally or illegally evicted. 

“The new notice to quit requirement impedes RAFT’s ability to provide effective upstream rental assistance and homelessness prevention resources,” said Kelly Turley, Associate Director of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless. “We call on the Legislature and Baker Administration to ensure that families and individuals seeking rental assistance are not forced to increase their risk of homelessness with the mandate to obtain paperwork that initiates the eviction process.” 

The letter requests that the Massachusetts Legislature include language in either the FY22 close-out supplemental budget or another bill to prohibit DHCD from requiring that tenants provide a notice to quit in order to access assistance with overdue rent, thereby allowing households more upstream access to RAFT prior to the start of the eviction process. The letter is endorsed by 167 organizations and municipal officials from across the Commonwealth.

“We must ensure that rental assistance is available and accessible to those experiencing housing instability, and requiring a notice to quit is a step in the wrong direction,” said Andrea M. Park, MLRI’s Director of Community Driven Advocacy. “In this time of unprecedented need we call upon state leaders to reduce barriers and adequately fund rental assistance to protect those most at risk of displacement and homelessness.”

A copy of the letter, and the full list of endorsing organizations, can be found here. 

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About Massachusetts Law Reform Institute  

Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) is nonprofit legal services organization that provides statewide advocacy and leadership in advancing laws, policies, and practices that secure economic, racial, and social justice for low-income people and communities. MLRI furthers its mission through impact litigation, policy advocacy, coalition building, community lawyering, and public information. In addition, MLRI serves as the poverty law support center for the Massachusetts civil legal aid delivery system and anti-poverty advocacy community. For more information, please visit www.mlri.org.