FEBRUARY 18, 2025
Dear Cambridge and Somerville Constituents —
Late Friday afternoon, after city services had shut down for the long weekend, a longtime constituent reached out to my office asking for help — and the situation was looking dire.
She had received a "48 Hour Notice of Eviction," informing her that on Tuesday morning, the Constable would be sent to eject her and her young daughter from their inclusionary/affordable housing unit in a luxury tower in Cambridge, and that movers would take away all of their things.
My constituent had been transitioning in and out of homelessness last year when she got this affordable unit, but she missed one of her first rental payments, and even though she had made subsequent payments and had a clear plan to satisfy the outstanding amount, her building owner moved to have her evicted.
I immediately called the building's sales manager — but they weren't willing to negotiate. They said all the money had to be paid by 10:30 am the following day (Saturday), or else there was nothing left to discuss. It wasn't going to be possible for my constituent to repay the amount that quickly.
So that evening, I encouraged my constituent to apply for the Massachusetts Rental Assistance for Families in Transition program (RAFT). This program provides up to $7,000 per year in emergency, short-term financial assistance to low-income households facing housing instability. After reviewing her application, I was confident she was qualified to receive these funds — but the approval process takes weeks, even if all goes smoothly.
On Saturday, I spent the better part of the day engaged with my city partners and state colleagues, including Maura Pensak, the Cambridge Director of the Office of Housing Liaison, Ellen Schacter, the Director of the Somerville Office of Housing Stability, Jill Currier, Client Services Manager at Somerville OHS, attorney Susan Hegel of Cambridge and Somerville Legal Services, and my House colleague Rep. Jay Livingstone, who is also an experienced attorney.
Collectively, we determined the best course of action was for my longtime constituent to file a Motion to Vacate Default Judgment and a concurrent Emergency Motion to Stay Execution for Judgement of Possession. But the timing was still incredibly tight. Due to the holiday, there was no guarantee we could get in front of a Housing Court judge before the Constable levied the execution.
On Sunday, I researched how to prepare these motions, and that evening, I met with my constituent in her building and assisted her in creating an eFileMA account so she could electronically file these motions into her eviction case while also electronically serving the documents on the building and its legal representatives.
By 8 am Monday, we heard from the attorney for the building, and now, they wanted to negotiate! They offered to cancel the pending eviction and to give my constituent enough time to pay in exchange for my constituent agreeing not to move forward with those motions.
We spent the next 23 hours trading emails with the building's attorney, ironing out the stipulations of this agreement to ensure it provided my constituent with the time she needed.
Finally, on Tuesday morning, with just one hour to go before we were planning to appear in Housing Court — and just four hours before the Constable and the movers were due to arrive — my constituent reached an agreement to cancel the eviction!
I posted a video of my reaction to this news from outside Housing Court yesterday. You can find it here on my Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky. After making that video, the work wasn't done. Yesterday afternoon, I met with Maura Pensak and Maria Melo of the Cambridge Multi-Service Center, and we discussed a plan to ensure the rental assistance makes it to my constituent in the agreed upon timeframe. Finally, I followed up again with my constituent to make sure she was all set with the next steps of the plan.
It's very meaningful to me to do this work — not just as someone who grew up in public housing and faced housing instability as a kid — but also because the legal provision we relied upon to give my longtime constituent this leverage comes from legislation I originally introduced in the House of Representatives and passed into law back in 2020.
Back when the pandemic struck, I worked with House Housing Chair Rep. Kevin Honan to pass the nation's strongest eviction and foreclosure moratorium law. The law was credited with saving countless lives here in Massachusetts. Ultimately, Gov. Baker allowed that law to expire. However, I then worked with House Ways and Means Chair, Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, to ensure that a key provision of our pandemic-era moratorium was made permanent.
That provision, M.G.L. Ch. 239, Sec. 15, says that when a tenant has a pending application for rental assistance, they can petition the court to grant a continuance or a stay of execution on their pending eviction case. We advocated for this concept to be made permanent because it stands to reason that a tenant who is entitled to rental assistance shouldn't lose their housing just because they are waiting for the state to process their application and deliver the funds.
I'd like to say I am going to take a break now, but in this time of overlapping emergencies, the work continues. Yesterday, I was also sounding the alarm over the fact the Eversource is once again reporting blockbuster profits on its utility business here in Massachusetts. I was on WCVB Ch. 5 news last night to call out Eversoruce and the other investor-owned utilities for their profiteering, and to call on my state colleagues to take action that achieves real affordability while continuing to advance our climate goals.
And, in case you missed it, last week was also very busy at the State House. My efforts included: 1) advocating for $300 million in housing voucher funding; 2) meeting with legislative leaders to discuss the PROTECT Act, calling on us to do even more to protect our immigrant neighbors and defend everyone’s constitutional rights in the face of the ongoing fascist ICE crackdown; 3) joining with the Criminal Justice Reform Caucus for a screening of “Holding Up The Sky," a documentary that reveals the challenges faced by those re-entering society after incarceration; 4) debating and voting to pass two bills that require disclosure of AI generated content and regulation of misinformation that intentionally deceives the public regarding the time and place of elections or how to access the polls, etc.
My video update on last week's State House efforts is available here on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky.
Finally, all are invited to join me for Office Hours tomorrow, Thursday, February 19, from 4:30 to 6 pm at Andala Coffee House in Central Square. No appointment necessary. Bring your questions and concerns, or drop by just to say hello. And if you can't it make this time, no worries! Just send me an email via my Connolly.house page and we can set up time to chat.
Thank you, as always, for being an informed and engaged constituent.
Yours in service,
Rep. Mike Connolly
