The moratorium is in effect until October 19, 2020 or until 45 days after the Governor lifts the state of emergency, whichever comes first.
The Governor can extend the end date of the moratorium so that it does not end before the end of the state of emergency.
The law temporarily stops almost all evictions. For evictions covered by the law:
Your landlord is not allowed to send you any eviction notices. They must not send you a:
Your landlord cannot file a new eviction case against you in court, for:
These protections may not apply if your landlord claims you were involved in criminal activity or lease violations that endangered the health and safety of others. Contact a legal services office if you are not sure whether the law protects you.
If you get an eviction notice, a court complaint or any other papers related to an eviction, contact your local legal aid office.
You may also contact the hotlines of community groups helping tenants and homeowners: City Life/Vida Urbana (617) 934-5006, Springfield No One Leaves (413) 342-1804, Lynn United for Change (781)346-9199.
You may be able to get help paying rent or other housing expenses. For housing resources or to apply for assistance from the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) program, contact your region’s Housing Consumer Education Center at www.masshousinginfo.org or call 1-800-224-5124.
You are still responsible for paying rent to your landlord. The eviction moratorium temporarily protects you against being evicted for nonpayment of rent due to a COVID-19 related financial hardship. When the moratorium ends, however, you will be at risk for eviction if you do not pay your landlord all the rent that is owed.
If you cannot pay rent due to financial hardship, you must send a notice to your landlord (see FORM OF HARDSHIP) to avoid late fees and credit reporting. Even if you do not send this notice, you still cannot be evicted for nonpayment while the moratorium is in effect.
If you are income eligible and cannot pay rent, we may be able to assist. You may qualify for different types of emergency rental assistance. Contact Way Finders for advice.
Yes. The law prohibits all evictions regardless of whether you have a written lease or you are a tenant at will.
Evictions for actions which pose a threat to the health and safety of others.
Your case is covered by the moratorium as long as your landlord does not claim there was criminal activity or lease violations endangering the health/safety of others. For eviction cases covered by the law:
Because of COVID-19, the law temporarily prevents evictions and foreclosures. In most cases, you cannot be evicted during the state of emergency, unless your actions could impact or pose a risk to the health and safety of others. However, you are still required to pay rent, and the landlord is allowed to remind you of the amounts you owe. Any past due rent or arrearage notice that a landlord gives should clearly state “This is not an Eviction Notice. You are not being evicted and do not need to leave your home” prominently on the first page.
If you missed paying rent due to financial hardship related to COVID-19 and want to avoid having to pay late fees and avoid a negative credit rating, you must fill out the form and send it to your landlord no later than 30 days after each missed rent payment.
The protection against paying late fees and credit reporting applies only if you have suffered a COVID-19 related financial hardship since March 10, 2020, such as:
Once you have completed this form and sent it to your landlord within 30 days of the date the rent is due, the landlord cannot charge you late fees or report you to a credit reporting agency.
You can request a copy from your landlord and they must provide it within 5 days of request.
DHCD has now posted the form on-line as a fillable PDF. If you have access to a computer or smartphone with Internet access, you can fill out the form on-line, electronically “sign” it by typing your name on the signature line, and emailing it to your landlord or management agent.
If you do not have the ability to complete the form electronically, you can send a signed letter or an email to your landlord explaining that you missed the rent payment due to a financial hardship due to COVID-19. In that letter, provide detailed information about how your income and expenses have been directly impacted by COVID-19. Give details to your landlord about your income and expenses prior to the State of Emergency and after the emergency. Attach any relevant documentation to the letter (notice of termination, layoff, or furlough from employer, notice of closure of business, etc).
Not if your landlord agrees to accept something else. The purpose of having an approved form is to minimize disagreements between landlords and tenants about how much documentation is enough. If you and your landlord are in agreement on a shorter form or other form of documentation, that is fine, but you should ask your landlord to put your agreement in writing.
No. But you should ask your landlord to put that in writing (an email or handwritten letter is fine).
Send it anyway and it will be up to the landlord whether to consider a late Notice before deciding to collect late fees or reporting to the credit bureau.
Unless you paid full rent on time, you should give a Notice of Financial Hardship to the landlord or management agent.
Every adult, 18 years or older, who contributes income to the household that could go toward rent.
Complete the form to the best of your knowledge before submitting. If you realize that you made a mistake and provided any incorrect information, contact your landlord or management agent so that they have the correct information.
Every adult who has income needs to sign the form, but only one form is needed per household following a missed rent payment.
Yes, because your financial situation could change month to month. Example:
Yes. To avoid late fees and credit reporting due to nonpayment, the law requires you to demonstrate that you were unable to pay rent because of COVID-19 related financial hardship. If you have enough income to pay your rent and other basic living expenses, you do not qualify – regardless of the source of that income.
Do your best to estimate how much you earn from tips in an average month, and include that amount under “other income” on the form. One way to estimate the amount of monthly income from tips would be to take the income from tips that you reported to the IRS on your taxes last year, and divide by 12. You could also list the total amount you received from tips from February 10 to March 10.
No. The only reason to fill out the financial hardship form is to avoid late fees and credit reporting. Even if you do not fill out the form, your landlord still cannot evict you, or send a notice to quit, during the eviction moratorium, unless your actions or others in the household pose a threat to the health and safety of others.
The statute does not alter your lease, or require you to pay late fees that your landlord would not otherwise charge under your lease. You should still be in contact with your landlord about nonpayment and should still fill out the form to avoid credit reporting.
The law does not impose a penalty for making a mistake on the form, so long as you did not intentionally try to mislead your landlord by providing false information. However, if a court later finds that the form would not have shown you to have a COVID-19 related financial hardship if you had filled it out correctly, your landlord could charge you late fees or report you to a credit agency.
