NHS moratorium on evictions extended through March 31, 2021
NeighborWorks® Housing Solutions (NHS), the leading housing service provider in southeastern Massachusetts, announced today that it has signed the Massachusetts Housing Stability Pledge, and plans to hold on any evictions related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic through March 2021.
NeighborWorks® Housing Solutions owns and operates more than 1,000 units of housing throughout southern Massachusetts.
The Massachusetts Housing Stability Pledge focuses on five main tenets: “1) Abide by and support the current CDC eviction moratorium….2) Proactively engage with residents and create payment plans….3) Support and accept rental assistance payments….4) Promote rent adjustments for Section 8/MRVP families….[and]5) Encourage structured and interactive mediation .” Although the CDC eviction moratorium expires on January 1, 2021, NHS is committed to extending its moratorium through March 2021. (The Massachusetts moratorium expired on October 17.) NHS joins seven other signatory organizations (and counting) that collectively represent more than 40,000 units in the area.
Additionally, the pledge highlights the challenges residents across Massachusetts have faced over the past nine months. “Compassion for the residents who call our communities home is a principle of each of our organizations and as such, we believe it is vital to take a leadership role in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to the pledge. “The social, public health and financial stability of the Commonwealth, its cities and towns, housing owners and operators and residents are interwoven, and we understand the critical role each party must play by standing together during this crisis. We pledge to stand with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Governor Baker in support of Housing Stability and Public Health.”
NHS also continues to provide foreclosure counseling as well as landlord services, financial counseling, rental assistance, free CHAPA and HUD-certified homebuyer education, and other housing resources. NHS is also the only organization throughout southern Massachusetts that administers the state’s Rental Assistance to Families in Transition (RAFT) financial assistance program.
“Unfortunately, the conditions caused by the pandemic have only exacerbated the housing issues faced by members of our community; but now, evictions also have additional serious and immediate ramifications, including risk to personal health and, for children, an inability to continue remote learning,” said Robert Corley, executive director of NeighborWorks® Housing Solutions. “We are doing all we can to help alleviate these conditions, and feel that proactively extending the moratorium on evictions for residents of our communities will provide some sense of comfort and stability while we continue to navigate these challenges and determine best courses of action to augment housing security.”
For more information, or questions regarding evictions or foreclosures, please call the NHS Housing Hotline at 781-422-4208. All call lines offer assistance in multiple languages.
About NeighborWorks® Housing Solutions
NeighborWorks® Housing Solutions is the leading housing service provider in southern Massachusetts. NHS has more than 70 years of combined experience in the community development field and provides services to more than 11,000 households in more than 75 cities and towns across the region. In addition to building and managing 786 units of housing for veterans, homeless families and others in need, the agency offers a wide range of housing services, including foreclosure prevention counseling, home rehabilitation loans and grants, financial coaching and first-time homebuyer workshops. For more information, contact Serenity Belo, Resource Development Director, at 617-801-5217 or sbelo@nhsmass.org, or visit: www.nhsmass.org.
