Somerville housing policies, know your rights, & tenant organizing this weekend!

Hi , In Somerville and across the country, housing instability and housing affordability is a crisis. So what are we doing about it? I’ll share information about a few bills that advocates are pushing for in the State House, resources available to tenants in Somerville, and a chance to organize with the LaCourt Tenants Union this weekend! Here in Somerville speculators are driving up housing prices. I highly recommend reading Senator Jehlen’s newsletter that lays out shocking statistics on how housing in Somerville has become an investment vehicle rather than a path to first-time home ownership or tenant stability. The outcome: in the past year housing prices have increased 18% for 2-family and 25% for 3-family homes. This is not sustainable and calls for structural change on how we define housing and how we design laws that govern various housing transactions in the market.  Before diving into a few bills that are moving in the legislature, I want to share some issues that have come up frequently when I’ve had the chance to speak with many of you on your doorstep this year. If I haven’t come by yet, I promise I’ll do my best to swing by. So far I’ve knocked on 4,500 doors in Somerville this year and hope to reach you soon! An important point, when thinking about housing policy is to distinguish between large real estate investors and your average 1-3 units small homeowner. Similar to how narratives driven by enormous multinational corporations co-opt small businesses (often at the detriment of policies that actually support small local businesses), the same happens when we confound large real estate investors and small homeowners.  Simply put, the interests of all residents in Somerville (whether tenants or small homeowners) are not aligned with large investors. We as residents seek a vibrant, healthy, and stable community. By law, investors are expected and obligated to maximize profit and maximize return on investment. So we cannot let co-opting narratives driven by the interests of investors misguide our support for housing policy.  A good concrete example of this is residential exemption. If the building you own is owner-occupied, you pay lower property taxes than owners who do not reside in the building. See the bottom of this PDF to apply for residential exemption. I share this because oftentimes bills are mischaracterized as being a burden to homeowners when in reality the bill does not even apply to them. With that I want to highlight two important bills in the legislature: first on the Transfer Fee and second on the COVID-19 Housing Recovery Act. The City of Somerville is fighting for a Transfer Fee that requires approval from the State Legislature to move forward (this is called a Home Rule Petition). This Transfer Fee is a fee of up to 2 cents per dollar on sales by and to institutional investors.  All owners that live in the building they are selling or plan to live in the building they purchase are fully exempt from this fee. The money raised will go into the Somerville Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which helps fund the development and preservation of homeownership and rental housing in Somerville that is affordable to low- and moderate- income households. It is estimated that if passed, this transfer fee would raise $6,000,000 to $10,000,000 each year for affordable housing. I am proud to have testified in favor of Somerville's Transfer Fee alongside Rep. Connolly, Rep. Barber, Mayor Curtatone, Councilor Ewen-Campen, Councilor Strezo, and the Director of the Office of Housing Stability Ellen Shachter. We are also pushing for transfer fee enabling legislation which, if passed, would allow every city and town in Massachusetts to adopt a transfer fee IF that locality chooses to do so. They would no longer need advance permission from the legislature to do so.  This would make the process of passing local real estate transfer fees MUCH simpler throughout the state. This bill, S.838/H.1377, Local Option on the Transfer Fee, was filed by Rep. Connolly and Sen. Comerford. This bill would enable municipalities to charge up to 2% of sales prices on transactions over the state median single family home price, currently around $525,000 and up to 6 cents per dollar on speculative sales where buildings are bought and resold within a twelve month period. Not only does the Transfer Fee provide much needed funding for our city to invest in affordable housing and stop displacement, it is another mechanism, in addition to residential exemption, that discourages speculative investors from using housing in Somerville as an investment vehicle while helping us maintain stable homes for our community members. Another important bill is the COVID-19 Housing Equity bill (S.891/H.1434), filed by Senator Jehlen, Rep. Honan, and Rep. Moran, for more details see the fact sheet by the Homes for All coalition. Similarly this bill aims to provide protection for both tenants facing no-fault eviction and homeowners facing foreclosure by putting a pause on both. COVID-19 related debts should not be a reason why anyone loses their housing. This bill requires that rental assistance is pursued before any eviction filing. This ensures that resources designed to help keep our most vulnerable neighbors in their homes are being used before the deeply traumatic and consequential action of eviction or foreclosure is pursued. Know Your Rights If you or anyone you know needs assistance or is at risk of losing their housing, there are a number of very important resources available in Somerville. Both the Somerville Office of Housing Stability and Community Action Agency of Somerville (or CAAS) are here to help. Please visit their websites or the Know Your Rights resource guide. You can always reach out directly to them via email or phone as well. If you have any other outstanding questions you can also reach my office at 857-264-1096 or at Erika.Uyterhoeven@mahouse.gov. Also, please support CAAS’ work by donating to CAAS following this link. Donate to CAAS! Support LaCourt Tenants Union Finally another way to get involved at the local level is supporting tenant unions. Join me this weekend for canvassing with the LaCourt Tenants Union (LCTU) on Saturday at 1pm at Seven Hills Park in Davis Square. For context, LaCourt Realty is one of the largest landlords in Somerville. We will be canvassing to connect with tenants and share information about their rights. Sign up here to join us! Sign up to volunteer with LCTU! Office Hours This week, I'll be holding office hours on Friday, November 19th from 4pm to 6pm on Zoom. Sign up and get Zoom link here. Sign up for Office Hours! Thank you to everyone who has reached out me either via email, phone, or at your doorstep about the affordability and housing crisis here in Somerville. I'll continue to fight in the State House for housing as a human right. In solidarity, Erika What is a Home Rule Petition In Massachusetts, cities have limited powers under state law. A Home Rule Petition is a request from a city for a new type of power from the state legislature—for example, the power to enact a new tax or regulation, or an exemption from an aspect of state law.If a proposed Home Rule Petition is passed locally, the city government sends the bill to its State Representatives and State Senators, who seek to pass it in the legislature as a state law that would only affect the one municipality. Additional issues and bills on housing Fully fund a homes guarantee by expanding the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Trust H.1799: An Act relative to homes for all H.1327: An Act further defining the purposes of the affordable housing trust in the city of Somerville S.868: An Act empowering cities and towns to impose a fee on certain real estate transactions to support affordable housing Advocate for federal funds for the refurbishment and construction of social housing and advancing efforts to repeal the Faircloth Amendment, which prohibits the creation of new public housing   Ending the anti-democratic, state-wide ban on rent control  H.1440: An Act relative to the stabilization of rents and evictions in towns and cities facing distress in the housing market Investment in mixed-income public housing to eliminate gentrification and create individual economic stability Net-zero public housing that is built exclusively by local unions  H.2890: An Act providing for climate change adaptation infrastructure and affordable housing investments in the Commonwealth A just cause eviction law and the right to counsel in housing disputes H.1911: An Act enacting the universal right to counsel in eviction cases H.1436: An Act promoting housing stability and homelessness prevention in Massachusetts Sealed eviction cases through the passage of the HOMES Act H.1808: An Act promoting housing opportunity and mobility through eviction sealing (HOMES) The rights of tenants, including the right to organize and the right to purchase, preventing displacement and offering residents a pathway to ownership H.1434: An Act to prevent COVID-19 evictions and foreclosures and promote an equitable housing recovery H.1426: An Act to guarantee a tenant’s first right of refusal H.1378: An Act enabling local options for tenant protections Protecting the houseless through a housing first model, providing permanent housing and support services for people experiencing houselessness H.264: An Act providing a bill of rights for people experiencing homelessness H.1436: An Act promoting housing stability and homelessness prevention in Massachusetts H.202: An Act improving emergency housing assistance for children and families experiencing homelessness H.1385: An Act providing upstream homelessness prevention assistance to families, youth, and adults Expanding emergency assistance shelter programs  Committee to Elect Erika Uyterhoeven 11 Wesley Park Somerville, MA 02144 United States Official State Rep website: www.RepErika.com Campaign website: www.ElectErika.com If you believe you received this message in error or wish to no longer receive email from us, please (Unsubscribing is not supported in previews).