JIM BROOKS COMMUNITY STABILIZATION ACT

An Act to protect residential tenants against arbitrary, unreasonable, and retaliatory evictions, and to ensure tenants are aware of their legal rights and the available resources to help preserve their tenancies.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is the purpose of the Stabilization Act?

The Stabilization Act is a tool to help direct legal and resource information to tenants at risk of displacement.

When will the Stabilization Act take effect?

The Act must be approved by the City Council and enacted by the State Legislature. The State Legislature has a two-year legislative cycle with the current cycle running from January 2017 through December 2018. If passed by the State Legislature, the Act would take effect in 2019, at the earliest.

Which landlords will be impacted by the Act?

Landlords who own more than six rental units in Boston.

What if a landlord rents out more than seven units, but no rental buildings has more than six units?

Landlords who own seven or more rental units -- even if none of the buildings have more than six units -- will be impacted.

Is this rent control?

NO. This is not rent control. The Act does not prohibit rent increases and does not limit rental prices in private market housing.

What if tenants do not pay rent, can they be evicted?

YES. The Act would not prohibit a landlord from evicting a tenant for non-payment of rent; it would require the landlord to send the notice terminating the tenancy for non-payment to the Office of Housing Stability.

What if tenants engage in criminal behavior in the unit or violate the lease terms, can they be evicted?

YES. The Act would not prohibit a landlord from evicting a tenant for criminal behavior on the premises or a violation of lease terms, but would require the landlord to send any notice terminating the tenancy to the Office of Housing Stability.

What notices will need to be sent to the Office of Housing Stability?

Landlords will be required to provide the Office of Housing Stability with a copy of any notice to quit, lease non-renewal letter, or notice of fixed term lease expiration within two days of the their issuance.

How can notices be delivered to the Office of Housing Stability?

Landlords or their agents, including constables or other process servers, will be able to send the notice to the Office of Housing Stability by mail, email or through an electronic portal. Landlords or their agents should not be charged more than a nominal fee for this service.

What will the Office of Housing Stability do with these notices?

The Office will send tenants housing resource and legal information.

What about landlords who face insecurity because tenants have not paid rent, making it hard for them to pay their mortgage, what assistance will they be offered?

The Office of Housing Stability is working to develop more landlord stabilization resources. Currently, the Office of Housing Stability offers low to no cost mediation services. Landlords can speak to a staff member about their rights and the resources available to help them by calling 617.635.4200.

Would a rent increase violate Chapter 93A (and be considered a violation of the State’s Unfair and Deceptive Business Practices Act)?

NO. A rent increase at the end of a lease term, with proper notice, does not violate Chapter 93A.

Can a landlord evict a tenant who refuses to pay a rent increase?

YES. If a landlord decides to increase the rent at the end of a lease term and the tenant offers the old rent, the landlord can move for a no-fault eviction.

Does the Act allow for private information to be made public?

NO. The law does not provide for the names of the landlords or tenants to be made public. The Act provides that any notices shall not be subject to the mandatory disclosure provision of the Public Records Law. If any information about the notices or the notices are to be made public, the party names will be redacted prior to any public disclosure.

Will passage of the Act lead to rent control?

This Act does not call for rent control and does not make rent control any more or less likely to happen in the future. Another bill that proposes to control rental increases would have to be approved by the City Council and/or State Legislature.

For additional information or answers to other questions, please contact

The Office of Housing Stability at 617.635.4200 or rentalhousing@boston.gov.

JIM BROOKS社區穩定法案

（正當理由軀遽法）

一項保護住戶不受任意，不合理，和報復性的驅逐，並確保租戶認識他們的法律權利和可用資源，以幫助保持他們的居住房屋。

常問的問題

“穩定法”的目的是什麼？

“穩定法”是的一項工具幫助對有流離失所風險租戶得到法律指導和資源信息。

“穩定法”何時生效？

該法案必須經市議會批准並由州議會頒布。州議會有一個兩年的立法週期。目前的周期是從2017年1月到2018年12月。如果通過州立法議會，該法案將最早於2019年生效。

哪些房東會受到該法案的影響？

房東在波士頓擁有六個租賃單位以上。

如果房東出租超過七個單位，但沒有租賃建築有超過六個單位，怎麼辦？

擁有七個或更多租賃單位的房東 --即使沒有一個建築物有六個單位以上會受影。

這是租金管制嗎？

不是。這不是租金管制。該法案不禁止增加租金，也不限制私人租賃價格市場住房。

如果租戶不支付租金，他們可以被驅逐嗎？

可以。該法案不會禁止業主驅逐租客不付租金;它將要求業主向房屋穩定辦公室發送因不付住租金而終止租賃通知。

如果租戶在單位有犯罪行為或違反租賃條款，他們可以被驅逐嗎？

可以。該法案不會禁止業主以犯罪行為去驅逐租戶，或違反租賃條款，但要求業主向房屋穩定辦公室發送終止租賃的任何通知。

房東需要把什麼通知送到房屋穩定辦公室？

房東必須向房屋穩定辦公室提供任何逼遷通知的副本、拒絕續簽租約信、或固定期限租賃到期通知，而在其通知簽發兩天內提供。

如何通知房屋穩定辦公室？

房東或其代理人（包括警員或其他流程服務器）將能通過郵件，電子郵件或電子網站發送通知給予房屋穩定辦公室。房東或其代理人不應該支付超過此服務的名義費用。

房屋穩定辦公室將如何處理這些通知？

房屋穩定辦公室將向租戶提供住房資源和法律信息。

房屋穩定辦公室可以為，因租戶沒有支付租金而面臨危機和不能支付揭付款，的房東提供什麼協助？

房屋穩定辦公室正在努力開發更多的房東穩定資源。目前，房屋穩定辦公室提供低到無成本的調解服務。房東可以電617.635.4200與工作人員資訊他們的權利和可用資源來幫助他們。

增加租金是否違反第93A章（並被視為違反麻州的“不公正和欺騙性商業行為”）？

沒有。在租賃期結束時有租金增加，並提供適當通知，不算違反第93A章。

房東能否驅逐一個拒絕支付租金增加的租客？

是。如果業主決定在租賃期結束時增加租金，租客提供舊租金，房東可以用一個無過錯驅逐去逼遷。

法案會允許公開私人資料嗎？

不會。法律沒有允許將房東或租戶的姓名公開。該法規定任何通知不得遵守“公共記錄法”的強制性公開規定。如果信息將被公開的話關，其通知或通知的姓名會在編輯公開之前把姓名褪黑。

該法案的通過會否導致租金管制？

這項法案沒有要求租金管制，在未來也不會使租金管制更多或更少可能發生。另一項租金管制法案必須經過市議會和/或州議會批准。

查詢更多信息或有關其他問題，請聯絡房屋穩定辦公室617.635.4200或電信

rentalhousing@boston.gov。