Celebrating SPOA's Legislative Victories: Thanks to You!
by Allison Drescher and Amir Shahsavari
The Small Property Owners Association (SPOA) released a message celebrating major legislative victories after the Massachusetts Legislature concluded its July 31, 2024 session. That message is copied below. Please read the other articles in this edition of Small Property Owners News to learn more about where we stand in the legislature and what more can be done to support the property owner community.
August 2, 2024
Dear SPOA Members and Supporters:
It feels like we have been on a roller coaster together for the past two years! Thank you for riding with us.
Never before have small property owners faced so many threats coming out of Beacon Hill.
From defeating rent control to fighting onerous mandates that would have made it impossible to run our businesses, SPOA has been front and center through all the ups and downs this legislative session, working hard, testifying on Beacon Hill, and playing a critical role advocating for you.
First, we must say thanks to you and others who stepped up to support us; we are happy to report that the 193rd session of the Massachusetts Legislature was one of our most successful ever!!!!! Your phone calls, emails, and face to face meetings with your elected representatives made a difference.
The dust is still settling, but here are some highlights:
We played a leading role advocating against rent control. That’s how SPOA successfully defeated rent control in 1994, and that will always be our first priority.
We helped defeat a mandatory “right of first refusal” law, otherwise known as TOPA (Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act), that would have interfered with your right to buy and sell rental property. Although it passed the House, it died in Conference Committee.
We put the brakes on a bill that was sailing through the House that would have made it practically illegal to use credit reports to screen prospective tenants without property owners facing 93A laws as a result.
We joined a coalition of real estate groups to kill “transfer taxes” on residential and commercial real estate sales. Everyone predicted at the start of the session that a new sales tax on property was a sure thing.
At the end of the session, we were on red alert, pushing back on Mayor Wu's proposed tax hike on commercial properties. Her circumvention of proposition 2½ fortuitously died in the Senate.
We were able to defeat a Senate initiative that would have forced owners to pay broker fees.
We went to the state house and testified in support of a new law that will create more accessory dwelling units (ADUs), which will give our members the opportunity to provide more affordable housing options to those who need it most -- all without government intervention.
Although we are not happy about any type of record sealing, the legislature also passed a more moderate version of eviction sealing that was negotiated with the Greater Boston Real Estate Board (GBREB). Although this bill is not perfect, it is more reasonable than the initial version that would have had dire consequences for property owners and tenants, while hindering the ability to use the tools needed to screen tenants.
We will provide more details in the upcoming SPOA newsletter, which will be released soon.
It is important to remember our testimony at the state house on January 18, 2024, when we swam in hostile waters opposing the proposed transfer tax, while calling for property owners to be included at the table to increase the supply of housing. This shows that determination, backed by logic, can change minds!
While there is much to celebrate, we can't stress enough the importance of your involvement and the need to donate to SPOA. We also need all of you to help SPOA recruit more members, in order to strengthen our voice further.
We were successful this session because we were in the thick of the fight. Our experienced lobbying team were on the ground helping us and our members attend countless meetings and hearings – talking to our legislators and making our voices heard.
It is critical that this session be the start of a stronger movement!
Despite our success this legislative session, we know that the other side will re-emerge to push even harder for the same anti-business policy proposals that will harm the preservation of existing housing, and its stakeholders, in Massachusetts. So we need to be prepared.
Please encourage other owners, as well as like-minded people who seek a fair and level playing field in housing, to join us and to donate now.
Once again, on behalf of everyone at SPOA, thank you for helping us achieve these positive results during this legislative session!
Sincerely,
Small Property Owners Association (SPOA)
by Allison Drescher and Amir Shahsavari
Sorting Out Where We Stand on Beacon Hill: Legislative Update from Preti Strategies for August 2024
by Jim Eisenberg
Here’s the bottom-line: SPOA has a lot to celebrate at the moment, but we still have work to do; and a lot has been written and posted recently about how the Massachusetts Legislature “ended” their 2023-2024 session on August 1 (following an all-night session). Things aren’t that simple.
For background, under our state constitution, the 193rd General Court, (as the 2023-2024 session of Massachusetts’ Legislature is officially known), adjourns sine die, or “without a day,” on the December 31, 2024, with the 194th General Court being sworn in the next day. What that means is that any bill not passed by that date dies and we start the process all over again (bill filings, hearings, votes, etc.).
However, under a joint House and Senate rule adopted in 1995, neither chamber takes “roll call” votes after July 31 of the second year of the two-year session. What that used to mean is that for all practical purposes, but for non-controversial bills like local approvals or necessary bill-paying supplemental budgets, there would be no major legislation passed after July 31 in an election (even numbered) year. But this is just a rule, not a law or a constitutional requirement, so it can be suspended if 2/3rds of both the House and Senate vote to do so.
So, in the past, for the most part, anything policy-wise that didn’t get done by July 31 was dead until the next legislative session. For SPOA, this would mean that because the Housing Bond Bill, (which served as an omnibus bill which wrapped up almost all major housing-related policy into one legislative vehicle), passed without rent control, “right-of-first refusal,” credit report sealing, transfer taxes, or owner broker fees, those issues would be dead for the year. It would also mean that the Boston plan to increase the commercial tax rate beyond Prop 2-and-½ limits would also be dead, unless and until it was refiled in the new 2025-2026 legislative session.
However, this year is a little different. Due to a breakdown in negotiations, the House and Senate were unable to come to agreement before July 31 on a few major pieces of legislation, including a $3.6 billion Economic Development Bond bill. Because of the importance of this bill and the political pressure to get it done, both the Senate President and the House Speaker said they are willing to come back into session, suspend the rule, and take a vote on Economic Development.
What does this mean for SPOA? Our best intelligence as of the writing of this update is that we should still be in good shape, but there are some potential pitfalls to watch out for.
First, because the Housing Bond Bill is currently before Governor Healey, it is unlikely that new Housing legislation would be considered by either branch, with one big exception. It is possible that the Sente could pass Mayor Wu’s tax plan. This is most probably our biggest potential issue for the next few months.
Governor Healey also has the power to return sections of the Housing Bond Bill with proposed amendments, which would then be back before the Legislature and would have to be voted on individually. We won’t know if there are any problems on that front until she signs the bill into law (on or before August 10).
Second, if the Massachusetts Legislature comes back into session, it is likely, but not absolutely certain, they will limit their agenda to only Economic Development; or that, plus one or two unrelated bills. We will have to wait and see what happens on that front, but any time they come back into session there is always the chance for unexpected actions.
Third, assuming we make it through a special session maintaining our current status, there is always the specter of something we oppose moving in informal session. We will have to remain vigilant that nothing moves which could have intended, or unintended, negative consequences on rental housing providers.
Finally, this all starts again in 2025. Our opponents will refile all the bills we oppose and probably come up with some new ideas that we will need to battle. Therefore, in addition to monitoring the unusual situation described above, we need to use 2024 to continue our efforts to raise the voice of rental property owners on Beacon Hill. For years, the predominant voice in this debate was owned by tenant activists, many of whom painted an unfair and untrue picture of landlords and their role in providing desperately needed rental housing to Bay Staters. Thanks to SPOA, that is beginning to change. Put simply, the more legislators we talk to and work with in 2024, the better chance we have of winning on our issues in 2025 and 2026.
by Jim Eisenberg
SPOA Releases Episode 8 of Housing Policy Series with "Advancing Legal and Financial Support for Small Property Owners"
by Amir Shahsavari
The Small Property Owners Association (SPOA) released Episode 8 of the SPOA Housing Policy Series, which is called "Advancing Legal and Financial Support for Small Property Owners."
The conversation focuses on various challenges faced by small property owners, the lack of support available to them, and how to change things for the better. Barriers to proportionate legal representation and financial resources are highlighted. Among the broader small property owner community, the challenges of low income and owner-occupied housing providers are emphasized.
SPOA Vice President, Amir Shahsavari, moderates the discussion with Jordana Greenman (Attorney at Law) and Joanna Allison (Executive Director, Volunteer Lawyers Project).
SPOA Housing Policy Series
Episode 8
Advancing Legal and Financial Support for Small Property Owners
by Amir Shahsavari
2024 North End Apartment Rental Market Report
by Demetrios Salpoglou
Compared to two years ago, the apartment rental market in North End Boston is more renter-friendly. This has given renters more options in 2024 and provided much-needed relief to rising rent prices in what has always been one of Boston’s most expensive neighborhoods. You can learn the details by clicking the link below.
by Demetrios Salpoglou