Eviction protections during the COVID pandemic: Gov. Charlie Baker and the Mass. Legislature offer different approaches
Updated Dec 19, 2020;
The controversial Massachusetts budget amendment expanding abortion access isn’t the only disagreement between lawmakers and Gov. Charlie Baker surrounding the fiscal 2021 budget. The Republican governor rejected most of a last-ditch effort to implement some eviction protections during the coronavirus pandemic, raising questions about whether lawmakers will fight those changes.
The fiscal 2021 budget plan passed by the Legislature last month includes a clause preventing courts from moving forward with eviction cases if the tenant has a pending application for emergency rental assistance when a trial is being scheduled. The provision requires courts to hold off on judgments or executions of evictions and makes courts grant a continuance, which postpones the proceedings, when a trial is scheduled if a tenant has a pending application.