Housing Law
Evaluating Massachusetts’ Tax Lien Foreclosure Laws Post Tyler v. Hennepin County
Last term, in Tyler v. Hennepin County, the Supreme Court ruled Minnesota’s tax lien foreclosure scheme unconstitutional, in violation of both the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause and the Eighth Amendment’s Excessive Fines Clause. Minnesota is one of twelve states, in addition to the District of Columbia, with tax lien foreclosure statutes. Sometimes referred to as […]
Running Out of Room: The Right to Shelter in Massachusetts
On August 8, 2023, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey declared a state of emergency because state resources were insufficient to comply with the Commonwealth’s right to shelter law. Although the law has been in place for 40 years, a rapid increase in the number of people requesting shelter and the declaration of a state of emergency […]
Massachusetts Broker’s Fees: Reasonable Service or Market Manipulation?
In 2023 Massachusetts established the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities with an eye toward creating more housing in the state, which, like many across the country, is suffering a housing shortage. Some estimates suggest that Massachusetts will require between 125,000-200,000 additional housing units by the end of the decade. Various proposals are currently […]
Right to Counsel in Eviction Cases: A California Case Study
Housing courts are overburdened. Tenants do not know their rights and are rarely represented. And as a consequence, many people lose their homes. To address these failings, some advocates call for “Civil Gideon.” The famous Supreme Court case, Gideon v. Wainwright held that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel requires the government to appoint counsel […]