Joe Feldman, an attornery for Springfield-based law firm Heisler, Feldman & Ordorica, spoke at the conference advocating for landlords to reconsider some of these recent hikes to rent.
Reminder Publishing photo by Trent Levakis.
EASTHAMPTON — A press conference was held inside Easthampton City Hall on Dec. 10 by the Pine Valley Tenants organization to shine a light on recent rent increases they deem unfair.
The organization was joined by the Easthampton Tenants Union, Northampton Tenants, tenant advocates and state Rep. Homar Gomez during the gathering.
Tyler Jones, a member of grassroots housing advocacy group Springfield No One Leaves, explained during the conference that over the past year, renters in Easthampton have dealt with excessive rent increases.
“At Springfield No One Leaves, we receive phone calls daily from folks facing eviction because the cost of housing is crushing them,” said Jones.
Specifically, Pine Valley Reality has been accused by renters of imposing rent increases from 40% to more than 60%, and tenants say landlord Matthew Gawle has refused to negotiate with tenants or listen to their concerns, evicting those who don’t agree to the new increases.
“The saddest part about this at Pine Valley is a landlord lives here [in Easthampton]. He’s a second-generation landlord. He’s putting his profit in front of the core element that makes up a good community: people,” added Jones. “We are here today because the tenants at Pine Valley have gotten organized, and they are not going to be displaced without a fight.”
One of those being evicted is Roland Decaires, who could not make the press conference, but a statement from him was read.
“It’s really ridiculous that he would be raising my rent by $400 a month,” said Decaires, in a statement. “I’m 79 years old, I have health problems, I’m on dialysis, I have Social Security. I have been living here for 16 years, and I have never had a rent raise so large.”
In collaboration with the newly formed Easthampton Tenants Union, the Pine Valley tenants organized the conference to put pressure on Gawle and urge him to come to the negotiating table. Tenants and organizers had collected more than 500 signed letters from community members indicating their support. The letters were hand delivered to the Pine Reality Offices following the conference in an attempt to get their landlord to negotiate with them in good faith.
Gawle and his wife Donna told Reminder Publishing through a joint statement the rent increases were in response to the rising cost of living.
“We simply took on too many losses due to rising costs. For example, at 115 Northampton St. alone, we have a net loss of $29,266.14 from 2019 to 2024,” they said.
When asked if they felt these increases could be negotiated further, they added they could not negotiate due to the net losses.
“We have explained our situation to the tenants, who requested negotiations. We kept rent as low as possible for as long as possible,” they said. “We are open to finding solutions to keep local landlords and tenants in Easthampton. However, we feel the community has spoken.”
Pine Valley Reality manages 137 units across 13 complexes in Easthampton.
The Easthampton Tenants Union is a group of renters from different apartment complexes in the city who are facing similar stark rental increases.
A shared sentiment from speakers was that Gawle has avoided requests to negotiate these increases.
“Over the last month or so, I’ve spoke to many people who are leaving Easthampton because they can’t afford the rent,” said Kelley Hutchins, a longtime Pine Valley tenant whose rent went up by 54%. “There is no emergency number to call if something should happen after hours or weekends. We were told to call the non-emergency police number. I would think the Easthampton Police have better things to do than to be an answering service.”
Hutchins said the increase is a number no working person can absorb without sacrifice. She said that when she asked to have a conversation about the increase, she was told there was no room for negotiation because of increased costs that the realty group faces.
“This isn’t just about my rent going up. It’s about the impact that these decisions have on people across our community. Long time residents being priced out of the town. Renters are expected to carry the weight of rising costs without receiving the care, stability or respect every home deserves,” added Hutchins. “We’re here because we believe in fairness. Fair rent prices. Fair treatment. Fair maintenance standards. We’re not asking for special treatment, we’re just asking for the basics.”
Tenants at the press conference argued that rent increases like these were threats against people’s housing. While acknowledging landlords are also facing the same increases to cost of living, they said that it is not a justifiable excuse for raising rent at the rate they have.
Joel Feldman, an attorney for Springfield-based law firm Heisler, Feldman & Ordorica also spoke at the conference. Feldman said he hopes landlords like Gawle make more of an effort to consider the morality behind the stark rent increases and eviction cases.
“Here we are about to enter the Christmas season and we have a landlord who, if a tenant’s not gonna pay a 54% rent increase, he’s just going to throw them to the curb, because really as you all know, there is no housing to be had,” said Feldman. “Mr. Gawle, you are now the poster child for why rent control has to be passed in Massachusetts. I hope you read these 600 letters and realize you can do better and you can be part of the solution, rather than being the problem.”
Another member of the group, Mona Shadi, explained she was facing eviction after a $300 monthly increase for the one-bedroom apartment she has rented in the city for the last two years. She added that Pine Valley was not interested in renegotiating her rent. Feeling cornered, she began outreach to neighbors to see if anyone else was facing the same issue.
Shadi said more recently, she has heard from neighbors facing slight increases, like $25 or $50 to their monthly rent, but this latest $300 increase was a shock to many. The eviction notice came for Shadi after she continued to pay her old rent amount.
After connecting with other renters in the same complex, as well as with those across the city facing a similar situation, Shadi and her neighbors began gathering letters of support from the community.
“In light of these raises and confronted with the reality that we have nowhere to go, we decided to band together,” said Shadi. “We’re working class people. I want to be clear about something. No one here is asking for a handout, or a free lunch. We are working class. We don’t get to make our money through passive income.”
