21 July 2020 – Massachusetts Governor Baker announced today that he’s extended the state’s ban on evicting tenants and foreclosing on homeowners through Oct. 17, 2020 based on the Chapter 65 of the Acts of 2020, An Act Providing for a Moratorium on Evictions and Foreclosures During the COVID-19 Emergency (the “Act”), which establishes a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures, which passed in April authorizing his discretion to extend these measures during the COVID-19 crisis.
Section 6 of the Act provides that the limitations on eviction proceedings (as set forth in sections 3 and 4 of the Act) are to expire 120 days after the effective date of the Act, which is August 18. Section 7 of the Acts similarly provides that the restrictions on foreclosures (set forth in subsection (a) of section 5) are to expire on that same date. However, in both cases, the Act provides that “the governor may postpone such expiration in increments of not more than 90 days” as long as the extended expiration date is no later than 45 days after the COVID-19 emergency declaration has been lifted.
Governor Baker emphasized that tenants and homeowners should continue making payments if they can;
“I am aware that the extension I am declaring today will impact many small landlords who rely on rental income to pay their own expenses. I strongly encourage tenants to continue to pay rent, and homeowners to make their mortgage payments, to the extent they are able while the moratoria remain in place.”
The Act’s limitations on evictions and foreclosures have allowed many tenants and homeowners impacted by COVID-19 to remain in their homes during the state of emergency. I am confident that this action, coupled with federal assistance, helped to slow the spread of COVID-19 while minimizing the impact to date on vulnerable families and on our housing market. The extension I am declaring today will provide residents of the Commonwealth with continued housing security as businesses cautiously re-open, more people return to work, and we collectively move toward a “new normal.”
The moratorium had originally been set to expire August 18th.
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