#2021-22 August 6, 2021

Association Testifies Against Burdensome Foreclosure Bills

With the expiration of the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) eviction moratorium on July 31, the Joint Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing on Tuesday on nearly 50 real estate bills, including several foreclosure and eviction measures.  During the hearing, several Democratic members of the legislature called on the Committee and House and Senate leadership to consider a new state moratorium on evictions as COVID-19 cases continue to rise.

In testimony during the virtual hearing, Rep. Mike Connolly, (D-Cambridge) a leading proponent of the state's initial eviction moratorium, said he feels "frustration" as he's watched leaders at the federal level "pointing the finger at one another," but doing nothing to stop the expiration of the moratorium.  Earlier this week, President Joe Biden called on states without bans, including Massachusetts, to consider putting them in place at least through September.

As we reported previously, the state eviction moratorium expired in October 2020 and Gov. Charlie Baker launched an eviction diversion program that invested state and federal dollars into rental assistance, legal aid and other supports.  While the administration has indicated that approximately $280 million in rental assistance has already been deployed, legislators and advocacy groups testified that more must be done to streamline the application process and ensure that the most at-risk tenants and homeowners can access the funding.

The Association joined with the Cooperative Credit Union Association (CCUA) and the Massachusetts Mortgage Bankers Association (MMBA) in testifying against several of the most onerous foreclosure bills heard on Tuesday, including legislation to impose a potential 10-year foreclosure moratorium on virtually every residential mortgage in the Commonwealth.  During our testimony, we also strongly encouraged the Legislature to devote additional resources to help struggling borrowers while noting that the banking industry has been proactive in participating in numerous existing pandemic relief programs since last spring.

Dozens of housing advocates shared stories and some extreme examples of how landlords, banks and others can allegedly improperly try to force people from their homes, testifying in support of numerous bills that would bring more judicial oversight to the foreclosure process, mandate significant new title recording requirements and allow foreclosed homeowners to stay in their properties as renters after the lender takes possession. 

The House and Senate have just begun a summer recess that is expected to stretch until after Labor Day and major bills, like one reinstating an eviction moratorium, are not expected to be considered during August. Since the expiration of moratorium last fall, 13,628 new eviction cases have been filed, according to data compiled by the Massachusetts Trial Court, and new cases in January, February and March were below the levels seen in 2020 before the pandemic.

To view the Association’s testimony opposing the numerous foreclosure-based bills, click here.

Thirty Potential Ballot Questions Filed at Initial Deadline

Dozens of groups filed 30 initiative petitions with Attorney General Maura Healey's office by the end-of-day deadline Wednesday, beginning a months-long process that will determine which proposed laws and constitutional amendments go before voters.  Among the proposals filed were questions requiring all elections in Massachusetts to use hand-counted paper ballots, legalizing the sale of consumer fireworks, requiring the state to make legal assistance available in eviction proceedings, and reinstating the ability of bars and restaurants to offer "happy hour" drink specials that have been banned since 1984.

Several groups filed multiple versions of their question on a single topic, including those seeking a voter ID requirement and an overhaul of the status and benefits for app-based drivers.   One of the two proposed constitutional amendments would declare that corporations are not people and that state lawmakers can limit political spending and contributions. The other requires public officials in Massachusetts to file regular financial disclosures and tax returns. Citizen-sponsored constitutional amendments require approval by at least 25 percent of two consecutive joint sessions of the Legislature, which means they could appear on the ballot no earlier than 2024.

The attorney general's office must review each initiative petition to determine if they meet necessary constitutional requirements.  In 2019, Healey certified 12 of the 16 questions submitted, and two questions eventually made it to the ballot in 2020.  If a question is certified, supporters must collect signatures from 80,239 registered voters and file them with local elections officials by November 17.

To view the proposed ballot initiatives, click here.

Tax Collection Growth Brisk to Start Fiscal 2022

The Department of Revenue's (DOR) reported that tax collections in July, the first month of the new fiscal year, were $2.25 billion – more than five percent higher than in FY2021.  DOR also stated that final tax collections for fiscal year 2021 totaled $34.137 billion -- more than $5 billion or 17 percent above the state's benchmark and $4.5 billion or 15 percent more than the actual amount collected in fiscal year 2020.

The monthly benchmarks that show the progression of tax collections throughout the fiscal year are still in development and will be included in future monthly revenue reports, DOR said. July is one of the least significant revenue months for the state, typically accounting for about 6.7 percent of annual revenue, DOR said.   July's collections begin a year in which state tax collections will need to grow by less than 1 percent to hit the revenue estimate written by lawmakers and the Baker administration into the $47.6 billion fiscal year 2022 budget.  After first projecting $30.12 billion in tax revenue for fiscal 2022, lawmakers and the administration agreed in the budget signed last month to increase the tax revenue projections by more than $4.2 billion to $34.35 billion.

Division of Banks Holds Public Hearing on Student Loan Servicer Regulations

Earlier this week, the Division of Banks held a virtual public hearing relative to proposed amendments to 209 CMR 18.00: Conduct of the Business of Debt Collectors, Student Loan Servicers, and Third-Party Loan Servicers and 209 CMR 48.00: Licensee Record Keeping.  As we reported previously, these amendments were also filed as Emergency Regulations - effective July 1, 2021 - to implement the student loan servicer licensure provisions as set forth in Chapter 358 of the Acts of 2020.  The proposed amendments are identical to the Emergency Regulations.

Written comments may be submitted to the Division on the proposed amendments until Wednesday, August 11, 2021 at 5:00 p.m.  The public hearing notice and proposed amendments are available on the Division’s website here.