Bill
S 960
Authorizes Brookline to adopt a local rent-stabilization bylaw with just-cause eviction protections, capping rent increases and shielding tenants from unjust evictions.
Status & key dates
- Filed (Senate docket): 01/17/2025.
- Introduced in Senate / passed Senate by Unanimous Consent: 03/11/2025.
- Received in the House / held at desk: 03/14/2025.
- Referred to House Committee on Housing (record shows 02/27/2025).
- Local approval: indicated in file.
- Hearing scheduled: 11/19/2025, 11:00 AM–5:00 PM, Gardner Auditorium.
Note on sponsorship: the bill text shows it was presented by State Senator Cynthia Stone Creem. A separate “Sponsors” list provided in the materials appears to include federal senators (Chuck Grassley, Mike Lee, Jon Ossoff), which conflicts with the bill text; the official petitioner in the bill document is Cynthia Stone Creem.
Purpose and findings
- Declares a local housing emergency in Brookline due to inadequate supply of low-cost rental housing, rent burden, displacement, and related public‑health and welfare harms.
- Authorizes the Town of Brookline to adopt a rent stabilization bylaw and to provide just‑cause eviction protections to address excessive rent increases and evictions.
What the bill would authorize Brookline to do
- Adopt a local bylaw to regulate rents for multi‑family rental housing and to create eviction‑protection rules (just‑cause eviction).
- Exempt certain properties or circumstances by local bylaw (see exemptions below).
- Establish an administrator or board to implement and enforce local rent regulations and eviction protections.
- Require tenant notification and rental registration systems as needed.
Key provisions — rent regulation
- Eligible units: multi‑family rental housing in Brookline unless explicitly exempted by the statute or a local bylaw.
- Annual maximum rent increase: the Town may set a cap equal to the annual change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI‑U, Boston‑Cambridge‑Newton, all items) plus 3 percentage points, OR a maximum of 7% — whichever is lower. CPI is measured as the prior calendar year’s 12‑month average published in September.
- Measurement of increases: an owner may not raise the gross rent for a covered unit over any 12‑month period by more than the Town’s allowed percentage multiplied by the lowest gross rent charged to that tenant during the prior 12 months.
- Vacancy / initial rent: when no tenant from the prior tenancy remains in lawful possession, the owner may set the initial rent at market (not subject to the cap); subsequent increases after that initial rent are subject to the local cap.
- Fair return: the Town may provide standards allowing adjustments for maintenance, capital investments, rapid property tax increases, or other costs.
- Administrative authority: Town may require registration, tenant notice, and create an enforcement body (administrator/board) and regulations.
Key provisions — just‑cause eviction protection
- Applicability: the bill makes just‑cause eviction protections applicable to “all housing accommodations” in Brookline, subject to local bylaw‑specified exemptions.
- Eviction grounds (examples listed): nonpayment of rent; breach of tenancy obligations (with notice and opportunity to cure); nuisance, serious damage, or substantial interference; illegal use of the unit; refusal to execute a renewal at a rent not exceeding the local maximum; denial of reasonable access for repairs/inspection; unauthorized subtenants; owner occupancy or occupancy by certain family members (requires notice and a relocation payment as set by the Town); and other “just cause” as defined by law and local bylaw.
- Judicial role: recovery of possession requires a Housing Court finding that a listed ground exists.
Exemptions (statutory)
- Owner‑occupied buildings with four or fewer units where the owner resides in one unit.
- Hotels, motels, transient lodging.
- Certain institutional and licensed care facilities (hospitals, religious facilities, extended care, licensed residential care for elderly).
- Dormitories owned by institutions of higher education.
- Units where tenant shares bathroom/kitchen with owner who maintains principal residence.
- Dwelling units with permanent certificate of occupancy less than 15 years old created by new construction, physical addition, or conversion.
- Units where rent is set as a fixed percentage of tenant income (vouchers, public housing, project‑based vouchers), or otherwise exempted by federal/state law.
Potential impacts
- Tenants: greater protection from large annual rent hikes and from eviction without recognized just cause; potential reduction in displacement risk and increased housing stability.
- Landlords: limits on annual rent growth for covered units, subject to vacancy decontrol for initial rents at turnover; potential eligibility for fair‑return adjustments; administrative and compliance obligations (registration, notifications).
- Town government: authority and duty to draft, adopt, administer, and enforce local rent rules and eviction protections; to set precise caps, exemptions, relocation payment levels, and fair‑return mechanisms.
- Housing market effects will depend on details of local bylaws, how fair‑return is implemented, and enforcement regime.
Related / procedural notes
- Related bills: HF/HR 1353 (companion noted), SD 2499 (replaces / docket reference).
- The bill is a local enabling act: it authorizes Brookline to adopt its own rent stabilization and just‑cause eviction bylaws; it does not itself set town‑level bylaws — those would be adopted by the Town under authority granted here.
For further review
- Key unresolved local details (to be set by Brookline if the act is adopted): exact annual percentage cap (Town decision within statutory maximum), specific exemptions, fair‑return calculation, relocation payment amounts, enforcement processes, registration requirements, and administrative structure.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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