Rent control opponents sue to keep measure off the ballot
RENT CONTROL OPPONENTS have gone to court to try to stop a November ballot question that would impose one of the strictest caps on rent in the country.
The suit, filed to the Supreme Judicial Court on Friday by the real estate-backed Housing for Massachusetts coalition, cites six separate issues that it claims disqualify the rent control question from being put before voters.
If passed, the ballot question would cap most rent increases across the state at either the annual change in the Consumer Price Index or 5 percent, whichever is lower.
Proponents of the initiative, led by the tenant advocacy group Homes for All, say it is a desperately needed fix for a rental market spiraling beyond the reach of many Bay Staters. The approach has split progressives over whether a statewide mandate or a tailored local option, allowing cities and towns to choose to impose rental control, would have been the more politically savvy play.
https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/rent-control-opponents-sue-keep-measure-ballot