EASTHAMPTON, Mass. (WWLP) – Easthampton tenants are calling on city officials, as well as Beacon Hill, to put tighter restrictions on corporate landlords from out of state.
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Easthampton tenants and advocates rallied at City Hall Wednesday night, calling attention to the impacts of corporate landlords on communities, saying they are pushing people out onto the street.
This has been an ongoing fight, especially amid the region’s growing housing crisis. “They don’t care about us. They come in and ruin communities,” says Amy Mares, a tenant with the 17 Adams Street Association.
Organizing Director for ‘Springfield No One Leaves,’ told 22News, “Most of the corporate landlords that are in Easthampton, that are in western Massachusetts, are from California, New York, New Jersey. Their investment in the city is not the same as it is as the person who lives on the same block. So they come in, raise the rents, flip it, just to make more profit elsewhere.”
Nancy Dorian lives at Pleasantview, a complex owned by Rowin Capital, a New York City-based private equity firm. She says in just six months her rent jumped from $1,150 to just over $2,200. She claims the owners are focused on the profits and that building conditions continue to decline.
“Weeds are coming up,” she says. “The gutters are overflowing. The basements are flooding. They are not taking care of their investment.” Also in Easthampton, 17 Adams Street, is a complex now owned by Hurricane Properties. Tenants there are facing rent hikes of up to 50%.
Mares adds, “The office assistant told us that there was no negotiating happening and that we should sit tight and get ready for our eviction papers.” 22News has reached out to both Rowin Capital and Hurricane Properties for comment, but we have not heard back.
In the meantime, tenants and advocates continue to push city officials to protect rents and restrict future property sales to corporate buyers.
The organization ‘Springfield No One Leaves’ will take this fight to Beacon Hill at the end of July, ahead of the municipal committee hearing on the proposed rent control bill.
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WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
Source:: News – Boston – wwlp
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