Latest news with #AffordableHomesAct
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Takes away rights': Mass. realtors upset with new law meant to help first-time homebuyers
Buying a home is a challenging and sometimes risky endeavor. Every buyer is worried about finding expensive problems after all the paperwork has been signed. A new state law goes into effect regarding the use of home inspectors on Friday. Supporters of the measure believe it will help home buyers, particularly those in the market for the first time. Some real estate professionals feel it will put unworkable limits on both buyers and sellers. The new law comes at a time when it has never been more challenging for first-time homebuyers in eastern Massachusetts. The Greater Boston Association of Realtors says the median price for a single-family home in the region is now $988,000. It's a frustrating situation for people like Tina Shukar. She has unsuccessfully been trying to buy her first house for several years now. She has a good career in sales. 'The problem is that I am competing against companies that do home flips, and they use cash to buy properties, and skip inspections and all that.' The new law will make it against the law to condition the sale of property on a waiver of an inspection, said State Senator Will Brownsberger (D-Suffolk/Middlesex). This law is part of the Affordable Homes Act, which was signed by Governor Maura Healey last August. It's one of about 50 housing initiatives in the $5 billion dollar plus law. Brownsberger was part of the Senate conference as the bill went through the legislature. 'The first-time homebuyers, the people we are trying to help in the housing market, are especially disadvantaged by that market dynamic of private equity... Coming into the local real estate market and snapping up properties.' Brownsberger says those types of buyers are better suited to handle the risks of foregoing an inspection. One reason the senate got involved was because of a wide scale problem with concrete in central Massachusetts. 25 Investigates first reported on how concrete was compromised with pyrrhotite and was susceptible to crumbling. 'We recognize that rules can have unintended consequences, so we left the details of this bill to the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities to put out some regulations.' 'What happened here isn't right,' said Anthony Lamacchia, the CEO and also a broker, at The Lamacchia Companies. 'It takes away rights from buyers and sellers and it's a real problem.' Lamacchia isn't opposed to home inspections. In fact, he often thinks they're a good idea. But it's the part of the new law that really bothers him. It would prohibit the sale of a property, or 'accepting an offer if the seller has been informed in advance that the prospective buyer intends to waive their right to an inspection.' Lamacchia added, 'It is literally going to prohibit realtors from doing things that they are supposed to do. You are supposed to convey what a buyer is trying to achieve. You are supposed to advocate for the advantages of the seller taking your buyer's offer. Now if a seller hears that or a listing agent hears that, they're not supposed to accept that offer. It doesn't make sense.' Brownsberger believes it will help 'remove some of the advantages that those cash buyers have.' Lamacchia said, 'Listen, this is capitalism, and in capitalism, there are highs and lows in all kinds of ways.' The Housing Office will report out their final regulations, and they will become law, on June 6th. Senator Brownsberger said it's common for the legislature to approve of an outline of their intentions and then have the appropriate agency fill in the specifics. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Outreach efforts starting as eviction-sealing law takes effect
BOSTON (SHNS) – Thousands of Massachusetts residents gained a new tool in the search for stable housing Monday, as a law took effect allowing eligible tenants to have their past eviction records sealed. Sen. Lydia Edwards, a longtime advocate for the law, said she already helped a constituent file an eviction-sealing petition Monday morning with the support of community organization City Life/Vida Urbana. Edwards said they used a website to fill out the paperwork. 'I was nervous. We got to, it was — went to there, looked up housing, had the petition, just clicked on that. And then it literally walks you through: What's your name, where's your docket, your docket number — which everyone will need to have their docket number — and then what's your address,' Edwards said at a press conference outside the Edward W. Brooke Courthouse in downtown Boston, where the Eastern Housing Court is located. 'And then we just went through it together, and then filed it,' the East Boston Democrat, who co-chaired the Joint Committee on Housing last session, continued. 'It was filed directly in the court that it needed to go to, and we did this all from the public library.' Edwards, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Attorney General Andrea Campbell, Senate President Karen Spilka, Boston Chief of Housing Sheila Dillon and other officials joined advocates and housing attorneys outside the courthouse to raise awareness of the new law, which was embedded in the Affordable Homes Act that Gov. Maura Healey signed in August. The new law is intended to remove a major barrier to housing stability. Eviction records are publicly-accessible court records, which landlords can currently use to deny housing to prospective tenants. Records are public even if tenants won a case or reached an agreement with a landlord, advocates said. Eviction sealing is not an automatic process under the new law. Tenants who win their case, have a case dismissed or had a no-fault eviction case can petition to have their records sealed immediately after the appeal period ends, according to a fact sheet. Tenants will need to wait four years to petition after the end of a non-payment case, and seven years after a fault-eviction case. The law also blocks credit and consumer reporting agencies from including information about sealed eviction records in their reports. Nearly 5,000 evictions are filed annually in Boston, with 'many' submitted at the courthouse where officials and advocates had gathered, Dillon said. 'About 1,500 of those eviction filings turn into actual evictions, and it is really hard for those families to oftentimes move on because of the records that they have acquired along the way,' Dillon said. She added, 'It's wonderful to have this new tool, but it's also our work to make sure that less evictions happen every year by creating more affordable housing, providing more legal assistance, more rental relief. And so the work upstream needs to continue.' Greg Vasil, CEO of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board, said his organization initially opposed the eviction sealing law over safety concerns for tenants. Vasil said it's important for building owners to know about certain past offenses when screening prospective tenants. GBREB eventually backed the law after years of dialogue with Edwards, including during her tenure as a city councilor, and with House Majority Leader Mike Moran of Brighton. There will be 'growing pains' with the new law, Vasil told the News Service. 'It's going to be a learning process for a lot of people. A lot of our owners are large owners that may have dealt with this in other jurisdictions across the country,' Vasil said. 'It's going to be a real sea change for the small owner, which a lot of us folks we don't represent. It's going to be very different for the mom and pops. They don't have a team, they don't necessarily have a legal staff that they can look at.' The Massachusetts Trial Court launched an online tool Monday, called the Eviction Sealing Guided Interview, to help Bay Staters navigate the process and file petitions electronically. Annette Duke, senior housing staff attorney at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, also encouraged residents to visit for resources about the process. Campbell called Monday a 'historic and amazing day' for tenants. Black renters are 2.4 times more likely to have an eviction filed against them than their white counterparts, and Black women are at greatest risk of having an eviction record or case filed against them, the attorney general said. 'We want everyone today to know that if you have an eviction in the past, that starting today, this option may be available to us. So, it will be incumbent upon all of us to get this information out to the people across the commonwealth,' Campbell said. 'I want to promise, and I'm making a promise, that our office will do everything in its power to continue our trainings, Know Your Rights, providing legal clinics, materials, all the resources that we are able to provide to ensure that folks have access to this critical information.' WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Housing, drinking water at issue with Truro zoning of 70 acres. 'We know it's a crisis.'
Truro will now be among the Cape Cod towns to try out electronic voting at town meeting with an affirmative vote Saturday to spend $20,000 to rent equipment next year. As one town meeting voter joked aloud Saturday, the town needed electronic voting — after one lengthy vote recount around 2 p.m. on whether to accept the state's new seasonal community designation. Voters approved the designation. Town Moderator Paul Wisotzky called for another hand count for new zoning sought for 70 acres of town land that may, in part, be used for housing and water conservation and storage. Voters approved the overlay zoning district with 154 in favor and 127 opposed. Wisotzky called for a third hand count on a nonbinding resolution to cap costs and design requirements on a planned public works building, which failed on a 117-100 vote. The Cape's smallest and most rural town — with high real estate prices — held its six-hour town meeting in a tent outside Truro Central School, with 423 voters attending. At 10 a.m. Wisotzky encouraged voters to 'embrace the freedom to raise our voices.' The spending requests that brought voters to the microphone included a proposal to spend $40,000 on a consultant to handle the town's public records requests. The spending request passed but drew comments that the task should be handled within the town's operating budget. One speaker attempted to bring up the status of his own public records request but was not allowed. Acting Town Administrator Kelly Clark said the number of requests has risen since 2021, and that the complexity of fulfilling the requests is increasing. Voters also approved spending $175,000 in Community Preservation Act money to create a natural burial cemetery adjacent to New South Cemetery for green burials, with the land remaining as it is rather than with lined-up headstones, and level and mowed grounds. The demand for green burials has increased, a Truro Cemetery Commission member said. The omnibus operating budget of $27.7 million for fiscal 2026, starting July 1, passed easily. Big ticket requests for voters totaling $9 million, which also need approval at the May 13 town election, passed with little opposition as well: $3.2 million to contain and monitor per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS), so-called "forever chemicals," found in the soil and groundwater on Town Hall Hill; $200,000 for Pond Road stormwater infrastructure in North Truro; $250,000 for additional costs of HVAC and roof repairs at Truro Central School and $5 million for solar electric facilities on town property. The seasonal community designation has already passed at town meetings in Provincetown and Wellfleet. The designation is part of the Affordable Homes Act, signed into law in 2024, and intended to recognize communities that experience substantial variation in seasonal employment and create tools to address the unique housing needs, according to the state. Some voters in Truro opposed the designation because they said the state law is unclear, and they encouraged town meeting to wait for the state to clarify the language. Proponents, though, had in mind how long it took to break ground for another housing project, known as the Cloverleaf. 'This is a tool,' Select Board Vice-Chair Robert Weinstein said in favor of the measure. It took 12 years to get a shovel in the ground for the town-sponsored Cloverleaf affordable housing, he said. He urged voters to accept the designation. Truro Housing Authority Chair Elizabeth Gallo said the designation would allow Truro to 'thrive' where middle-income families have found themselves with no housing to buy because of high real estate prices and income limits that keep them out of affordable housing. Truro Housing Authority Vice-Chair Mara Glatzel said the majority of the town's homes are seasonal, and the school population has dropped. It's clear the town has a problem, Glatzel said. 'We're already a seasonal community.' Near the end of the meeting voters agreed to change the zoning of the town-owned parcel off Route 6, as part of the town's development planning for housing, according to proponents. The change, for what is known as the Walsh property, provides for multiple types of housing in addition to those permitted in the existing residential district, and permits small lot sizes and requires development of affordable housing and housing for individuals who earn beyond the limits of affordable housing, according to the warrant. After about 45 minutes of discussion, and at least 15 speakers, voters approved the zoning amendment. At least one voter warned that the zoning change could lead to "Walsh City." 'We know it's a crisis. We need this,' said voter Kenneth Oxtoby. Oxtoby said he has two adult children who cannot afford live in Truro. Voter Anne Greenbaum, in support of the zoning change, emphasized the need to protect underground drinking water sources. 'We do housing. We do water.' Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription. Here are our subscription plans. This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Truro joins other Cape towns: electronic voting at town meeting
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Holyoke developer lands state backing for 14 new units on Lyman Street
HOLYOKE — With help from the state, a developer will create 14 apartments in downtown Holyoke, part of a $18 million package of grants announced this week by Gov. Maura Healey. The state funding will help build 288 new housing units in six Gateway Cities across Massachusetts. C Elliott Developers LLC received $952,000 to create housing units at 174 Lyman St. in Holyoke. The awards are the last round of Housing Development Incentive Program (HDIP) grants for 2024. This year, a record number of new homes were built after Healey increased HDIP funding from $10 million to $30 million a year. Healey also added $57 million as part of a $1 billion tax cuts package signed in October 2023. Overall, the administration awarded $72 million to create 1,544 new housing units in Gateway Cities in 2024. In a statement, Healey said the incentive program has succeeded in creating 'more reasonably priced housing in Gateway Cities.' 'We were proud to expand this program as part of our historic tax cuts package, and we're thrilled to see this funding being put to work across the states,' Healey said. 'Together, we're making it more affordable for people to live in their communities while also attracting more business, industry and culture to our incredible Gateway Cities.' Community Development Director Alicia M. Zoeller was unavailable for comment. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said the administration is dedicated to addressing housing needs. 'This funding brings a significant impact to cities across the state and goes a long way toward making Massachusetts a more affordable place to live, work, start a family and build a future,' Driscoll said. The announcement was made Tuesday at 347 Main St. in Fitchburg, an eight-unit housing development and previous HDIP award recipient. The program aims to build market-rate housing to help the economy, increase housing variety and create lively neighborhoods, backers say. The governor's plan includes the $5.12 billion Affordable Homes Act, the MBTA Communities Law, more Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and work by the Housing Advisory Council and the Unlocking Housing Production Commission. Read the original article on MassLive. Read the original article on MassLive. Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Fall River mayor raises concerns over new ADU law
FALL RIVER, Mass. (WPRI) — A new state law allows 'accessory dwelling units' (ADUs) by right in single-family zoning districts in Massachusetts, but some communities are pushing back. As of Feb. 2, ADUs under 900 square feet can be built without special permits thanks to the Affordable Homes Act, which Gov. Maura Healey signed into law last August. Often called tiny homes, in-law suites, or 'granny flats,' ADUs are small living spaces on the same lot as a primary residence. They can be converted from garages, attics and basements, or built as standalone structures. The fight over ADUs: Seniors see 'granny flats' as one solution to housing crisis However, Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan has raised concerns about the new regulations. In a letter (pictured below) to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities—first reported by Commonwealth Magazine—he cited issues like parking and local zoning. Coogan also questioned whether ADUs would help meet the state's goal of having 10% affordable housing in every municipality. 'What we need is low-income housing,' Coogan told 12 News. 'I can charge $2,000, $2,500 a month for those units. What we need in Massachusetts are some of the cities that aren't at the 10% cap to get the ADU law, and then to designate what they want for rents in those areas so we can help the whole state take its responsibility for some of this affordable housing.' RELATED: New RI law makes it easier to add rental units to homes A 2024 MassINC Policy Center report found Fall River has the largest housing shortage among Massachusetts gateway cities, adjusted for population. Coogan called Fall River a 'hot market,' saying more people are moving in to build housing. 'We have the most naturally affordable apartments in the South Coast in Fall River because people down here don't charge that much. They give people a break,' Coogan explained. 'But rents are going up, make no mistake about it, statewide, and it is putting a strain on some of the families in Fall River.' While Massachusetts faces debate over its ADU policy, Rhode Island has taken a different approach. Gov. Dan McKee recently signed more than a dozen bills aimed at addressing the state's housing crisis, including one that makes it easier to create ADUs. Under the new law, an ADU can be built as long as it stays within the existing footprint of the home, is for a disabled family member, or is on a lot larger than 20,000 square feet. McKee said he saw firsthand how ADUs can benefit families, as his mother lived with him in one for nearly two decades. MORE: McKee ceremonially signs bills to tackle housing crisis Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
