An Act permitting the city of Revere to establish penalties and liens for rooming house & certificates of fitness ordinance violations

194th Legislature (2025-2026) Introduced by Jessica Giannino

Revere can issue citations, hearings, and real estate liens to enforce rooming house and certificate-of-fitness violations, using Chapter 40U procedures.

Summary: An Act permitting the city of Revere to establish penalties and liens for rooming house & certificates of fitness ordinance violations (HD 5334)

Purpose and intent

This bill would authorize the City of Revere to enforce its rooming house ordinance and related certificates of fitness by establishing a framework for penalties, citations, appeals, and real estate liens to collect unpaid fines or assessments.

It also allows Revere to utilize enforcement and procedural provisions in Chapter 40U of the General Laws for violations of its rooming house ordinance.

Key provisions

Section 1: Authorities and processes granted to Revere

The city may issue citations for violations.
The city may establish appeal and hearing processes for those citations.
The city may file real estate liens to collect unpaid fines, penalties, or assessments arising from citations.
The city may use enforcement or procedural provisions in Chapter 40U of the General Laws for rooming house ordinance violations.

Section 2: Scope

The act applies only to violations that are distinct from, and not the same as, violations of the health, sanitary, housing, fire, building, plumbing, or electrical codes of the city or commonwealth.

Section 3: Effective date

The act takes effect upon passage.

Who/what is affected

City of Revere (authorized to implement and enforce penalties, citations, hearings, and liens for its rooming house and certificates of fitness violations).

Property owners and operators of rooming houses in Revere who would be subject to citations, fines, and potential real estate liens for noncompliance.

Local officials responsible for administering rooming house regulations and any related certificate-of-fitness regime.

Procedural and timeline considerations

The bill would provide a formal citation system and an appeal/hearing process for alleged violations.

Unpaid fines or penalties can become real estate liens on affected properties.

Enforcement would be conducted under the framework of Chapter 40U provisions where applicable.

The act would take effect upon passage (no separate phase-in period specified).

Notable context

Status notes indicate local approval considerations, with the bill introduced by Representative Jessica Ann Giannino of Revere (House Docket No. 5334; House No. 4752).

The bill is local in scope and is designed to empower Revere to directly manage and collect penalties specific to its rooming house and certificate-of-fitness regulations, independently from broader health, safety, or building code violations.