‘This fight is not over:’ Mass. rent control advocates rally following ballot question defeat

A day after the Supreme Judicial Court tossed out the rent control ballot question, supporters gathered to herald next steps for a cause they say won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.

“We fought like hell, and we’re here to share that we are going to continue to fight like hell for our community,” New England Community Project director Noemi “Mimi” Ramos said to the crowd on the steps of the State House on Wednesday morning. “We are disappointed by the court’s decision. We are pissed the hell off because, based on a small technicality, they threw out the right for voters to vote for rent control this November, but we are not going away.”

Advocates behind the rent control ballot question – which would have limited annual rent increases for residential units to the Consumer Price Index or 5%, whichever was lower – rallied at the State House early Wednesday to push lawmakers to pass rent control proposals in the Legislature. If legislative options don’t pass, speakers said they intend to bring the question back in 2028.

The SJC on Tuesday struck down the initiative petition based on what they deemed an unconstitutional exemption for religious facilities, stating the rent control question’s language “impermissibly makes religion ‘a factor in [the petition’s] application.’ “

The ballot question, which was backed by the group Homes For All, included a range of exceptions for owner-occupied buildings with fewer than five units, dwelling units rented primarily to short-term guests and new dwellings occupied for less than 10 years, as well as the educational, religious, or nonprofit facility exception.

Speakers on Wednesday said they would not be dissuaded by the court setback, which they said was pushed by “a few private equity-backed real estate corporations that put in millions of dollars to fight community.”

Ramos told supporters the “state Legislature still has the time to pass rent control” this session, encouraging the group to go inside and talk to lawmakers Wednesday.

Multiple bills in the Massachusetts House and Senate have proposed rent control measures but seen little action this session. Some top lawmakers have argued rent control could hamper development as the state faces a housing shortage. Speakers on Wednesday contended that “tenant protections and housing production can and must coexist.”

“I have lived in a market rate apartment for more than 10 years, with my landlord raising my rent from 1% to 3% each year,” said Sarah Jenness, board president for Fenway Forward. “This stability has benefited both of us. I have been able to remain in my community and plan for my future, and my landlord has had a reliable long-term tenant. This is exactly the kind of balance that modern rent stabilization policies are designed to support.”

Jenness referenced a compromise proposal on Beacon Hill that would allow a higher-capped local-option rent control with exemptions for new construction, arguing it “would deliver the predictability that both developers and investors need to build housing now, while protecting tenants from excessive rent hikes.”

The rent control opposition group Housing for Massachusetts, the organization behind the ballot question’s court challenge, called the proposal “the nation’s most extreme” and said the ruling “protects our housing pipeline and our communities from the proven damage that rent control inflicts” following the SJC decision Tuesday.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu spoke about the ballot questions this election cycle during a MASSterList and News Service event Wednesday. Wu talked about the lack of action around policies like rent control by state legislators, saying the “level of frustration about inaction at the state level, at the State House, has reached a boiling point.”

Supporters of the measure cited the over 157,000 signatures gathered to advance the question to November’s ballot and the work “building the strength of our movement” through the effort.

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Isaac Hodes of the advocacy group Lynn United for Change referenced a resident, Patty Ford, who recently died but who was dedicated to signature-gathering and building community after she was nearly evicted when a landlord bought her home of 40 years and tried to raise her rent by $500 a month.

“That’s the exact kind of community building that these corporate landlords and developers are crushing when they come in and evict for profit, and that’s one more reason we are not going to let it keep happening,” Hodes said. “Patty didn’t have a lot of money, working-class Lynn resident, but she had heart. Our movement may not have all the money, but we’ve got heart.”