Tenant activists kick their own funders

Bank of America just funded an illegal attack against itself. Their funding supports the City Life/Vida Urbana tenant activists who trespassed and got arrested recently (Sept 08). No doubt they thought they were doing an act of civil disobedience in the tradition of the civil rights movement. They were protesting the eviction of a woman who had defaulted on her Bank of America mortgage and wanted to stay in her home in the new status of tenant. The activists tried to stop the removal of her belongings. I don't agree with the activists; owners-turned-tenants living in foreclosed homes will only slow down the turnover of the housing to new owners and aggravate the current foreclosure crisis. That's why the Massachusetts legislature refused to pass a just-cause eviction bill to keep such tenants in possession of their previous homes. I will stay neutral on the issue of civil disobedience itself. What amazes me is that large institutions are financially backing these activists in their illegal activity. The City Life/Vida Urban website (www.clvu.org) lists several banks (Citizens, Bank of America, Sovereign), The Boston Foundation, The Boston Bar Association, the City of Boston itself, and the United Way of Massachusetts Bay among a host of other financial supporters. The targeted mortgage-holder in the reported foreclosure story was Bank of America itself. The bank's own funding was being used against it. There must be a huge "disconnect" between these supporters and the activists at City Life/Vida Urbana. If they knew what they were supporting, they would certainly pull their funding.

Special housing rights for battered women?

The latest news of a restraining order against New England Patriots player Randy Moss serves as an example of a temporary restraining order and how easy it is to get. Two bills at the State House (S.755 and H.1241) would make it easier than a temporary restraining order for alleged battered women (or men) to get special housing rights -- including protection against eviction. Under either of these bills, the person seeking special housing rights merely tells any one of a number of designated people (social worker, advocate in a domestic violence center, etc.) that they are a victim of domestic violence and sign a piece of paper. That gets them the rights that easily, based solely on the alleged victim's word. With protection against eviction, the alleged victim of domestic violence can continue engaging with their partner in the domestic violence -- late-night loud fights, property damage, etc. -- without fear of eviction, leaving landlords helpless to do anything about it.

These domestic violence bills introduce a form of "just cause" eviction, as the owner must prove that the reason for any eviction is not related to domestic violence. We do not have "just cause" eviction in Massachusetts, but this bill would start it. With "just cause" eviction comes a form of rent control. If you can't evict for a reason that might be related to domestic violence and you raise the rent too high, a judge may say you are evicting the tenant by imposing an unreasonable rent increase. That is rent control.

For more information, go to www.spoa.com and scroll down the home page to "Special housing rights for 'battered women'?" The state legislators that need to be contacted are:

Representative Kevin Honan
Co-Chair, Housing Committee
State House, Room 38
Boston, MA 02133
617-722-2470
Rep.KevinHonan@hou.state.ma.us

Senator Susan Tucker
Co-Chair, Housing Committee
State House, Room 424
Boston, MA 02133
617-722-1612
Susan.Tucker@state.ma.us

And you need to contact your own senator and rep. Follow this link to find out who they are:
www.wheredoivotema.com