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Boston's Morning Newsletter
Want to wipe an eviction off your record? Here's what to know about the new process in Massachusetts
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It's town election day over the border in Brookline and for more than a dozen other communities across Massachusetts. In fact, Secretary of State Bill Galvin's office says there are over 95 local elections over the next two weeks — including many Prop 2½ override votes. Check your city or town's website for details.
Now, to the news:
Signed, sealed... More than a million eviction records in Massachusetts are now eligible to be sealed. As part of the housing bill signed into law last summer, new rules took effect yesterday allowing renters to ask a court to seal past eviction records after a designated amount of time. That means they won’t show up on background checks and credit reports of potential renters when they're applying for a new place.
- Why the change? Past eviction cases are public record. And in Massachusetts’ tight housing market, they can live on as a black mark on your record, even if the case was ultimately settled or successfully appealed. “At the end of the day, a moment in time shouldn't define you for the rest of your life,” state Sen. Lydia Edwards, who championed the rule change, told WBUR’s John Bender. She noted that factors outside an individual's control, such as the 2008 recession or the COVID-19 pandemic, could have put renters in a desperate situation. And for more serious cases, she says it’s an opportunity for people to show, “ I am not the tenant I was 20 years ago, 15 years ago, who messed up."
- The deets: The required waiting period before you can ask to get an eviction record sealed depends on the type of eviction. It ranges from almost immediately for “no-fault” evictions, to four years for evictions due to nonpayment, to seven years for more serious “fault” evictions (think property damage or accusations of criminal activity).
- The concern? The trade group Mass Landlords says the new rules effectively hide important information from property owners that could protect not only themselves, but also other tenants. “ Landlords do need to see eviction histories for some applicants who repeatedly abuse prior landlords and make it hell for their neighbors as well,” said Doug Quattrochi, the group’s director.
- I want to seal a past eviction. Where do I start? The state has created a free online system — including a “Guided Interview” — to walk people through the process. But as Edwards notes, it’s not automatic and other parties can object to the seal request. “You still have to make your case,” she said. “In each case, the landlord is notified, they can respond and the courts ultimately will decide.”
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North of the border: Nova Scotia is still planning to send us a Christmas tree this year, despite President Trump's tariffs and rhetoric toward Canada. The Canadian province has gifted Boston its giant Common tree every year for decades, as a thank you for the city's quick response to the deadly 1917 Halifax explosion.
- What they're saying: In a statement, Nova Scotia's Department of Natural Resources told WBUR's Dan Guzman it values its "deep historic ties as well as our modern trade and cultural relationship with Boston." The statement then added: "Even though we’ve seen Canada’s relationship with the United States drastically evolve the last few months, Nova Scotia will continue to say thank you to Boston."
- Heads up: As Trump meets with Canada's newly elected prime minister today, Gov. Maura Healey and six other northeast governors are inviting the country's premiers to an in-person meeting in Boston in the coming weeks to discuss "avenues to overcome the hardship of these uninvited tariffs."
Meanwhile at the Moakley Courthouse: Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell is adding another item to her already-packed to-do list. She and 17 other attorneys general filed a lawsuit in federal court in Boston yesterday against Trump's Day One executive order pausing wind energy project approvals, permits and loans.
- In other news: The City of Boston also joined a lawsuit against the Trump administration yesterday over a Department of Housing and Urban Development grant cancellation that officials say would cost the city $48 million.
P.S.— Did you think we were done announcing new speakers at the WBUR Festival? Not quite. The Atlantic's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who recently broke the SignalGate story, will be here on Comm. Ave. for a live podcast taping with Kara Swisher. Explore the full festival lineup and purchase tickets here.
