Agenda Text
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Supporting the passage of House #1656 and Senate #901 to create Housing Courts statewide.
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Official Text
WHEREAS, House Bill 1656 and Senate Bill 901 call for the creation of a statewide housing court to create a specialized court to hear matters involving housing issues, including landlord tenant issues and code enforcement issues; and
WHEREAS, Somerville currently is not served by any housing court that can provide this type of specialized jurisdiction; and
WHEREAS, The City of Somerville is the most densely populated community in the Commonwealth and has one of the highest percentages of residential real estate owned by absentee landlords in the Commonwealth; and
WHEREAS, The City of Somerville undertakes comprehensive enforcement actions with landlords to deal with rodent problems and health and safety code violations, including, where necessary, actions in the courts of the Commonwealth; and
WHEREAS, Because of development in the City of Somerville, many of its residents, especially low income, elderly and immigrants, face eviction actions that impact their lives and families; and
WHEREAS, The Board of Aldermen believes that these circumstances warrant the creation of a housing court so that these housing related issues can be heard by a specialized court; NOW THEREFORE BE IT
RESOLVED, That this Board of Aldermen hereby supports the passage of House Bill 1656 and Senate Bill 901 and asks that a copy of this Resolution be sent to members of Somerville’s Legislative Delegation and to the House and Senate Chairs of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, respectfully requesting that they support these bills.