Starting in May 2025, Massachusetts renters can ask the state to seal their eviction records.
Governor Maura Healey signed the law on Aug. 6, but it doesn’t go into effect until next spring. Critics contend it will remove an important tool many landlords use to screen tenants, but supporters say it means renters will no longer be judged forever for past mistakes or bad luck.
Douglas Quattrochi, executive director of Mass Landlords, said the law is bad for democracy and denies owners relevant information. “There’s a landlord problem, which is that landlords might end up renting to ‘professional’ tenants,” Quattrochi said.
When records are sealed, he said, journalists and researchers can’t oversee the courts properly.
State Senator Lydia Edwards said this bill has been in the works since 2018 (before she was elected to the Senate) and that her interest and input stem largely from her work as the director of Boston’s Office of Housing Stability and her experience as a landlord who has “had both good and horrible tenants.”
“How long should renters be held responsible for mistakes or misfortunes from years ago?” Edwards asked. “Is it more vital to know if a person’s been evicted or if they’ve been convicted of murder? Because the person convicted of murder can seal their record and you would never find that out.”
Edwards said people who were evicted for nonpayment of rent can apply to have their record sealed after four years. The waiting period can be longer or shorter depending on the reason for the eviction. Currently, even people who’ve been evicted via a no-fault eviction have an eviction on their permanent record. An example of a no-fault eviction is when a landlord evicts a tenant in order to sell or renovate a property. The new law allows the renters to remove the eviction quickly and easily from their records.
“You can’t just tell tenants they have to go. That’s illegal,” Edwards said. “You’ve got to go through this process. Many landlords and tenants don’t realize no-fault evictions create a permanent record. Even if the tenant leaves or the parties come to an agreement through mediation and a judgment is entered and it’s supposedly dismissed, the original filing is public and permanent. A lot of people who were using this system the way it’s supposed to work didn’t realize they were creating another system of injustice.”
Annette Duke is a senior housing staff attorney for the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute and led a coalition of grass-roots organizations in support of the law. What landlords really want to know is whether or not prospective tenants are going to be responsible and pay their rent on time, Duke said, and merely having been involved in a court case is not a good indicator of those things. Besides, deciding whether or not to rent to someone based on them merely being named in a court action could potentially run afoul of the law, she added.
“Eviction records can be misleading and often don’t provide the full context,” she wrote in an email. ”For instance, a landlord might take you to court for not paying rent, but their records were incorrect and you actually paid the rent and the case was dismissed. Having overbroad tenant screening practices can open landlords up to liability under Fair Housing laws.”
Recent Housing and Urban Development guidance notes “that ‘tenant screening companies and housing providers should not rely on eviction records that are old, incomplete, irrelevant, or where a better measure of an applicant’s behavior is available,’ ” she wrote.
In fact, “eviction records are plagued with inaccuracies and racial disparities” in outcomes, according to a 2023 report from the National Consumer Law Center.
“There’s a fundamental question of whether we believe in second chances or not, and the state has consistently answered that question with a resounding yes,” Edwards said. “This is just furthering that conversation. Tenants still have to make their case for sealing their eviction. We simply believe they deserve that second chance.”
Should you be a tenant or landlord seeking assistance with an eviction or housing discrimination case, contact the Law Offices of Renee Lazar at 978-844-4095 to schedule a FREE one hour no obligation consultation.
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