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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2932 FILED ON: 1/16/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1571 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Erika Uyterhoeven |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act to make home repair affordable and stabilize communities. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Erika Uyterhoeven27th Middlesex1/16/2025 1 of 3 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2932 FILED ON: 1/16/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1571 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Uyterhoeven of Somerville, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. |
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| 19 | 19 | | 1571) of Erika Uyterhoeven for legislation to make home repair affordable and stabilize |
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| 20 | 20 | | communities. Housing. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act to make home repair affordable and stabilize communities. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 Chapter 23B of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following section:- |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2 Section 37. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following words shall, unless the |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:- |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4 “Affordable unit”, a unit where the rent is affordable to a tenant at or below 60 per cent |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5of the area median income adjusted for household size as defined by the executive office. |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6 “Applicant”, a nonprofit or governmental entity that serves 1 or more cities or towns. |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7 “Executive office”, the executive office of housing and livable communities. |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8 “Habitability concern”, home repairs that are required to ensure that residential units are: |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9(i) fit for human habitation; (ii) free from defective conditions of health and safety hazards, |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10including asbestos, mold, pests and lead; or (iii) free of conditions preventing the installation of |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11measures to improve energy or water efficiency and lower utility costs. 2 of 3 |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12 “Small landlord”, a person who: (i) is a landlord; (ii) has an ownership stake in no more |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13than 5 properties and no more than 15 rental units; and (iii) rents the properties or units under |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14clause (ii) for use as a primary residence for a fee, regardless of the length or form of lease. |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15 (b) The executive office shall establish the whole home repairs program. In administering |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16the whole home repairs program, the executive office shall coordinate with existing federal and |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17state resources relating to home repairs. The executive office may develop and publish guidelines |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18to implement the whole home repairs program. The executive office and grantees may receive up |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19to 4 per cent each for administrative costs to implement this subsection from money appropriated |
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| 48 | 48 | | 20for the whole home repairs program. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit an |
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| 49 | 49 | | 21applicant that receives funds from the program under this section from subgranting the funds to |
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| 50 | 50 | | 22another entity approved by the executive office to perform any of the purposes specified in |
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| 51 | 51 | | 23subsection (c), (d) or (e). An applicant that subgrants the funds to another entity shall notify the |
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| 52 | 52 | | 24executive office and the executive office shall maintain a list of the applicants and subgrantees |
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| 53 | 53 | | 25contact information on its publicly accessible website. |
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| 54 | 54 | | 26 (c) An applicant who receives funds from the whole home repairs program shall make |
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| 55 | 55 | | 27grants available to homeowners whose household income does not exceed 80 per cent of the area |
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| 56 | 56 | | 28median income and shall make loans available to small landlords renting affordable units and |
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| 57 | 57 | | 29recorded against a residential property in a mortgage security. A single grant to a homeowner or |
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| 58 | 58 | | 30a single loan to a small landlord may not exceed $50,000 per owner occupied or rental unit and |
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| 59 | 59 | | 31may be used to address habitability concerns, improve energy or water efficiency or to make |
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| 60 | 60 | | 32units accessible for individuals with disabilities. 3 of 3 |
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| 61 | 61 | | 33 (d)(1) A loan to a small landlord under subsection (c) may be forgiven if: (i) the small |
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| 62 | 62 | | 34landlord offered a 3-year extension of the lease to a tenant occupying a unit when the funds were |
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| 63 | 63 | | 35accepted by the small landlord; (ii) annual increases in monthly rent have not exceeded 3 per |
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| 64 | 64 | | 36cent of the base rent or the unit has been occupied by a tenant participating in the federal |
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| 65 | 65 | | 37Housing Choice Voucher Program for a period of no less than 15 years; (iii) in the prior 15 |
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| 66 | 66 | | 38years, the small landlord has not committed a serious violation with regard to the small landlord's |
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| 67 | 67 | | 39rental property that the small landlord has taken no substantial steps to correct the violation; and |
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| 68 | 68 | | 40(iv) the small landlord has maintained ownership of the unit for a period of no less than 15 years. |
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| 69 | 69 | | 41 (2) The applicant shall recapture a loan not forgiven under this subsection. |
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| 70 | 70 | | 42 (e) An applicant who receives funds from the whole home repairs program shall use the |
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| 71 | 71 | | 43funds to do all of the following: |
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| 72 | 72 | | 44 (i) administer the program under this section, including staff, implementing systems and |
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| 73 | 73 | | 45data management tools designed to maximize enrollment in all existing home repair programs |
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| 74 | 74 | | 46administered by nonprofit organizations, governmental entities and public utilities; and |
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| 75 | 75 | | 47 (ii) invest in work force development programs that will connect trainees to jobs through |
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| 76 | 76 | | 48committed employer partnerships related to improving the habitability and performance of |
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| 77 | 77 | | 49homes, including cash stipends for trainees and costs related to the design and implementation of |
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| 78 | 78 | | 50pre-apprenticeship, apprenticeship and publicly funded on-the-job training programs. |
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