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Landlord group sues for emails related to Boston's rent control proposal

A trade group representing landlords is accusing the city of Boston of shielding emails related to Mayor Michelle Wu's new rent control proposal.

Cambridge-based MassLandlords filed a lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court Friday asking that a judge order the city to turn over emails between members of the mayor's rent stabilization advisory committee.

"We really want to understand how this committee, and how this proposal, came to be," MassLandlords executive director Doug Quattrochi said in an interview.

MassLandlords filed a public records request for the messages last year. Court records show Boston has so far only turned over one email.

In its response to MassLandlords' request, the city said invitations to the committee "were extended via phone call."

The lawsuit states that the implication there was no further email communication between the advisory committee and city staff "beggars belief."

The Wu administration pushed back against the lawsuit over the weekend. In a written statement, a city spokesperson called it "an attempt by special interests to stop the city from protecting residents from extreme and unaffordable rent increases."

The rent stabilization proposal would tie annual allowable rent increases to inflation, with a cap of 10%. It would exempt small owner-occupied buildings, and new buildings for 15 years.

The policy was crafted by the 25-member advisory committee, made up of renter advocates, landlords and developers.

Mass Landlords' Quattrochi said he believes the exemptions favor big developers.

"We've got this whole dog-and-pony show about how we're trying to help people, but the origins of the proposal are really confusing and unclear and seem to favor developers over renters and landlords," he said.

The Greater Boston Real Estate Board, another industry trade group, has separately pledged to spend about $400,000 to oppose Wu's rent control proposal.

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Walter Wuthmann State Politics Reporter
Walter Wuthmann is a state politics reporter for WBUR.

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