Legislative-Summary_Rent-Stabilization-Compromise-Legislation — File 26-1041

Key points in legislative language Each city or town could choose to adopt the law in full by majority vote. In communities that opt into rent stabilization: • The law would limit annual rent increases to the cost of living (CPI) + 5%, with a cap at 10%. Landlords would be permitted to raise rents between tenancies. • The law would encourage continued housing production to address housing shortages by exempting new construction, commercial-to-residential conversions, and substantially-renovated vacant residential buildings from rent limits for a building’s first 15 years. • The law would also exempt owner-occupied buildings with four or fewer units, publicly regulated or subsidized housing (including LIHTC, public housing, and certain affordable housing projects), assisted living facilities, dormitories, facilities for nonprofit or religious purposes, and short-term/transient units. Owners would be required to provide tenants with written disclosure if a unit is exempt at the time of a new lease. • The law would establish strong tenant protections to limit no-fault evictions or non- renewals except for specific reasons (nonpayment, refusal to accept rent increases permitted under the law, lease violations, owner occupancy, condo conversion, demolition, safety issues, etc.). • The law would establish a process allowing owners to seek rent increases above the annual increase cap for extraordinary capital improvements or tax increases, with documentation, neutral review, clear standards, and timely decisions. • Violations of the law would be treated as unfair or deceptive acts (under Chapter 93A) with treble damages, attorneys’ fees, and enforcement by the Attorney General, in order to ensure the law is meaningfully enforced. • If the state later amends the law materially, local ordinances would remain unchanged unless the changes are readopted or amended by a local supermajority. Please note: stakeholders are making final adjustments to section 6