Condo Media - December 2020 - 27

Since the COVID-19 pandemic struck in March, federal and state
legislative agendas have been dominated by efforts to control its
spread and mitigate the economic damage it has caused.

T

The measures of most concern to
community associations target tenant
evictions, debt collection, foreclosure
actions, and COVID liability protection.

TENANT EVICTION MORATORIA
The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) has issued federal
regulations temporarily prohibiting
property owners from evicting tenants
for non-payment of rent. These rules:
Apply only in states that have not
enacted pandemic-related eviction
restrictions or that have restrictions
less stringent than the CDC's. A
more restrictive eviction moratorium enacted by the Massachusetts
Legislature expired October 17,
when Governor Charles Baker
decided not to extend it. As a result,
property owners in the Commonwealth must follow the CDC rules.
Prohibit evictions for nonpayment
of rent, but permit evictions for
specified " causes, " which include:
■ Engaging in criminal activity
" while on the premises. "
■ Threatening the health or
safety of other residents.
■ Damaging or " posing an
immediate and significant
risk of damage " to property.
■ Violating applicable building
codes or other regulations
governing health and safety.
■ Violating any contractual
obligations, other than payment
of rent or related housing payments.
Specify that tenants will be required to pay their accumulated
rent eventually. Because of that,
industry executives are predicting
a surge in eviction actions after
the ban is lifted.

The CDC moratorium ends December 31, 2020, but is " subject to further
extension, modification, or rescission,
as appropriate. " Although the federal
regulations are being challenged, the
courts have not yet ruled on these cases.
A Massachusetts Superior Court upheld
the state eviction moratorium earlier
this year, before it had expired, finding
that it served a legitimate public purpose
and fell within the state's broad authority
to address health emergencies and economic crises affecting the public welfare.
Although industry executives don't think
the eviction restrictions will affect most
community associations, communities
with large numbers of investor-owned
units could see a spike in delinquencies
if owners who are unable to collect rent
from their tenants can't pay their common area fees.

The Community Associations Institute
(CAI) has strongly opposed this bill, not
only because it would impede the ability
of community associations to collect the
common area fees on which they depend,
but also because it would define community associations as creditors, subjecting
them to civil penalties and fines for
violating complex and detailed consumer
debt collection rules.
" This would not be good for condominium owners or for nonprofit community
associations, " Dawn Bauman, CAE, CAI's
senior vice president for government and
public affairs, says. The legislation has
encountered " a lot of resistance in the
Senate, " she notes, adding, " We're hopeful that it won't pass. "
Massachusetts courts overturned
emergency regulations issued earlier
this year by the state Attorney General

If legislation banning collection of consumer
debt advances, " we've been assured that it will
contain an exception for condominiums. "
In a related development at the federal
level, the House of Representatives approved a bill earlier this year that would
expand the CDC's eviction moratorium
and extend it for a full year after the law's
effective date. The bill would also extend
for the same period a federal moratorium
on mortgage foreclosures that ends this
year and expand its scope beyond the
federally backed mortgages to which it
currently applies. The Senate hasn't considered a comparable measure and isn't
expected to before the current legislative
term expires.
DEBT COLLECTION RESTRICTIONS
The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation that would apply to
condominium associations, temporarily
barring actions to collect consumer debt.

temporarily halting consumer debt collection actions in the state. Before the
court ruled on that challenge, lawmakers
had begun considering a more comprehensive collection ban that would remain
in place longer than the 90 days covered
by the AG's regulations.
CAI's Massachusetts Legislative
Action Committee (MALAC) " weighed
in quickly " to oppose that bill, according
to the committee's chairman, Matthew
Gaines, a partner in Marcus, Errico, Emmer & Brooks, who notes the lawmaker
sponsoring it " assured us that it was not
intended to include condominiums. "
Given the court's rejection of the AG's
regulations, the measure isn't likely
to advance, Gaines says, but if it does,
" we've been assured that it will contain
an exception for condominiums. "
December 2020 CONDOMEDIA

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Condo Media - December 2020

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