October 19, 2022

Greetings!

Thank you to everyone who responded to our recent emails on the campaign to swiftly restore upstream access to the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition program (RAFT), the Commonwealth’s primary emergency rental and utility assistance and homelessness prevention program. Read more about RAFT and access the RAFT application here.

Background

The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), which administers RAFT, implemented a new policy effective August 1, 2022 that requires families and individuals seeking RAFT assistance for overdue rent to first provide a “notice to quit” (NTQ) from their landlord in order to be eligible. The NTQ is not simply a letter, but rather the first legal step a landlord must take to evict their tenant. Requiring notices to quit for RAFT applications is preventing qualified households from accessing needed benefits, leading to preventable evictions and forcing households further behind in rent, putting them at greater risk of homelessness. 

How We Are Responding

On Monday, the Coalition, along with Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) and Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA), delivered an organizational sign-on letter to the Legislature, Governor, and key Baker Administration officials to eliminate the notice to quit requirement in the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition homelessness prevention program. Thanks to your help, the letter was endorsed by 167 organizations and municipal officials from across the Commonwealth.

You can read the full letter below, on our website, and as a Google Drive file with a shareable link: https://tinyurl.com/raft-ntq-letter

We still are asking individuals to sign and share the related one-minute email action to legislators. Please take a minute to sign our action to legislative leaders and your own State Representative and Senator by clicking here: https://mahomeless.org/raft-ntq-action/

Media Coverage

Several news outlets have covered the campaign so far, including the Boston Globe, State House News Service, WBUR, WWLP, and Banker and Tradesman, with more coverage to come.

Next Steps

We hope you will continue to advocate with us as we call on state leaders to act with urgency to eliminate the notice to quit requirement in the RAFT homelessness prevention program! We have been meeting with legislators and their teams to push for policy changes as part of the FY22 close out budget/supplemental budget that is pending now at the State House, or another bill that may be moving forward in the weeks and months ahead.

Please keep reaching out to your elected officials to urge them to do all they can to eliminate the notice to quit requirement, stay in touch with us, and feel free to email Kelly with any questions or updates.

With hope,
Kelly and Luke

Kelly Turley
Associate Director

Luke Benson
Community Organizer/Legislative Advocate