EASTHAMPTON — An Easthampton apartment complex recently saw its owners implement a 40% plus rent increase — with only 10 days notice for residents to sign the new lease with the new rate effective starting Feb. 1 — causing the tenants of the building and advocates for affordable housing to speak out and shine a light on the situation.
A press conference was hosted by the Pleasant View Tenants Association on Feb. 1 at the Eastworks building where tenants and advocates said A Better Way Property Management, the property owners, have chosen profit over people with their stark rent increase on such short notice.
The Pleasant View Apartments is a 33-unit complex that includes families, couples, single adults, seniors and more. Some residents were on a month-to-month lease, while some are currently locked into leases but will still face the rent increase when their lease expires. Others have already made the tough decision to move out as they could not afford such a stark increase on such short notice.
“I am a senior living on a fixed income and have some health issues. This rent increase has caused me undue stress and is making things difficult. I now have to deal with the fact that I will most likely receive an eviction notice. It’s just cruel,” said a Pleasant View Apartments resident who chose to stay anonymous.
Most tenants were paying $1,150 a month but the new agreement increases the rent by $400 to $1,550 a month and if tenants did not sign the new lease within the 10-day period, rent would increase an additional $200 to $1,750 a month and they would receive a 30-day Notice to Quit, which would begin their eviction process, according to the Pleasant View Tenant Association. The mid 30s-40% increase in some cases has led to the tenants association going public with their fight.
Mercedes Ryan is a community organizer with Springfield No One Leaves, a grassroots member led organization in Springfield, organizing with residents most impacted by the housing crisis and economic inequality to build collective power, defend against displacement and win long-term community ownership and control over land and housing. Ryan explained once she heard about the situation for the tenants of Pleasant View it was important to connect with the tenant’s association as they face this steep increase to their rent on what has seemingly been short notice.
Ryan said the press conference was efficient in shining a light on this situation and that situations like this can occur to more people than one might expect. While Ryan and the tenant’s association have tried to have conversations with the new property owners, their concerns have largely gone ignored.
“The new owners are very dismissive about the concerns and have used the excuse of ‘it’s just the market rate analysis.’ There is no empathy or sympathy there for people that have lived there for a long time, some have been there for 10-plus years. But sometimes when new people come in, they shake it up really bad and it’s really unfair that they have such a sharp increase. And only a 10-days warning to sign a new lease agreement — that blows my mind really,” said Ryan.
Ryan noted the residents of Pleasant View Apartments have lived in the community for years, contributing to its culture, economy and neighborly spirit, and that many elderly or longtime tenants who have built their lives calling the complex home are facing what they believe to be an unjust spike in rent.
“I’m especially upset that out-of-state landlords bought our complex, raised the rent by 40% without making improvements and have even lowered the standard of maintenance. They openly target small, under-market-value complexes like ours for profit, leaving many elderly residents struggling because they can’t afford more expensive housing,” said Nancy Dorian, a resident of Pleasant View Apartments.
Others added the short-term notice caused visceral reactions and left them with feelings of helplessness.
“Are we the assets you [A Better Way Property Management] target that have room for a high upside? When I received the rent increase notification, I felt scared and trapped. An increase of at least 35% — with the threat of 52% — felt untenable,” said Kate Zanetta, a mother and longtime resident of Pleasant View Apartments.
Another anonymous resident of Pleasant View Apartments who is a single mother added, “Seeing the notice about a $400 rent increase left me in shock and feeling physically sick. As a single mother working full-time, I had only days to sign the lease or risk an even higher increase — or eviction — with no idea where to go.”
Reminder Publishing reached out to A Better Way Property Management for comment on the decision but did not receive a response by press time. At the moment, residents are essentially left to deal with this situation, adapt to the new prices or move out.
Ryan said while there is a lot of legislation that could be passed to help protect tenants from landlords charging increases like this with little heads up, one of the basic and most important things people could do is learn their rights.
“A lot of landlords, they try to scare you with certain things. People get scared because they don’t know anything else and a lot of people can’t afford a lawyer for legal advice, so they just succumb to their fears and do whatever the landlord or whoever is telling them to do,” Ryan explained. “Definitely one big thing is getting out that information on resources for people on their rights. This is a huge part of our campaign going forward, just spreading awareness.”
In the meantime, Ryan and the team of Springfield No One Leaves have already introduced a rent stabilization bill to the state house that will aim to protect people from drastic rent increase like this as well as expand the rights of tenants. The bill is sponsored by state Sens. Pat Jehlen and Adam Gomez (D-Springfield), and state Reps. Dave Rogers and Sam Montano.
The bill aims to allow cities and towns to enforce fair and predictable maximum rent increase, includes exemptions for new construction and small landlords, and protects tenants by banning no-fault evictions and clarifying what qualifies as a legal reason to evict.
Ryan explained rent control protects people from drastic rent increases while communities pursue long-term reforms to create more affordable and equitable housing. It would also make the state less vulnerable to profit-seeking investors and prevent profit-driven displacement, a situation being played out for some tenants of the Pleasant View Apartments.
Massachusetts is considered to be in the midst of a severe affordable housing crisis and rents have continued to increase. The state has the second highest cost of living in the country and has attributed its loss of residents in recent years due to its rental costs across the state.
According to the bill, over 50% of renters in the state spend more than a third of their income on rent. Another statistic shared in the bill states that in order to afford a two-bedroom rental home in the state at HUD’s Fair Market Rent, an annual household income of $93,268 is needed.
“I think it’s insane to just let people raise rent as much as they want. Especially with all the inflation going on and the economy coming out of COVID. People’s pay hasn’t gone up but their rent has gone up,” Ryan said. “I feel like [without change] people are going to be priced out of living, like a big chunk of people way more than we’ve seen because it only seems to be getting worse with no cap on it. We’re trying to put our foot down with legal legislation to say, ‘hey you can’t just have free rein for ruining people’s lives or just raising rents out of control.”
The bill would also out a cap a 5% increase year to year on rent changes, eliminating the possibility of situation like at the Pleasant View Apartments who are seeing a sharp spike to their rent.
“The 40% increase in Easthampton — these are people living on a fixed income. If you’re a senior, that’s going to affect their health, the stress of this,” Ryan added.
Ryan said the fight will continue as long as tenants are willing to and they are schedule to continue tenants association meetings in the coming weeks. There they will learn more about tenants rights and different tactics at their disposal to combat this unexpected challenge.
