‘Where are you people coming from?’
Homeowners slam Council over proposed ‘rental registry’
Medford homeowners are blasting a proposal that would make it easier for city officials to get in touch with landlords and renters, saying the request has come out of the blue and makes them an unfair target.
City Councilor Anna Callahan, in her first term, is looking to enact a rental registry ordinance that would lead to creation of a database of all rental properties in the city. “At a minimum,” it would contain property addresses, who owns them and owner contact information.
The mechanism, Callahan outlined in a resolution, would help the city achieve its “climate sustainability, affordable housing, and other goals.” So far, residents are not taking the proposal lightly.
“I really don’t know where this is coming from,” resident Robert Jones said during last week’s council meeting. “The people who own the houses pay the tax bills. We know how to contact them when we’re looking for their money. If they don’t pay, then they’re contacted. You have the mechanism to contact every homeowner in the city of Medford.”
Jones questioned who would be administering the rental registry since the city is dealing with staffing shortages. He believes the council is “overstepping” their boundaries and that such a request should be voted on as a ballot measure.
Officials are already reaching out to landlords to inform them about different rebate programs available through the state and tax incentives to retrofit their houses, Callahan said. “But it’s very difficult to reach that group of people because we just don’t know who they are,” she added.
The resolution is “just the beginning of the conversation,” Callahan said, and councilors will be collaborating with the planning department and city building commissioner and administrative staff.
“Many people as I campaigned were upset with absentee landlords who allow their buildings to fall into disrepair or allow junk in their yards,” she said. “Being able to know who landlords are, what properties are landlords, and reach the tenants in those buildings, as well … would be great.”
This is the latest proposal that has divided Medford, a city of more than 60,000 residents north of Boston, over real estate. Last month, the council requested a subcommittee to develop a home rule petition that would enact a tax on “high-end real estate deals.”
Backers say the measure would address the city’s affordable housing “crisis,” but the idea caused some residents to engage in a shouting match with councilors — a scene similarly played out last week over the proposed registry.
Eighteen cities and towns across the Bay State are already waiting for action from the state Legislature on their own “real estate transfer fee” proposals, a concept aimed at spurring affordable housing production.
Resident Donna Silva said the rental registry is unfairly targeting multifamily homeowners and that there’s no need for such a mechanism.
“Where are you people coming from? Shame on each and every one of you,” Silva said. “I sit here and feel like I’ve done something wrong. I’ve done absolutely nothing wrong.”
Boston, Worcester and other unnamed cities and towns across Massachusetts have a registry that Medford is looking to replicate, Council President Isaac “Zac” Bears said. He highlighted how the city sends out tax bills but absentee landlords “may never see” them and how problem problems are becoming increasingly common in certain neighborhoods near Tufts University.
Councilor George Scarpelli echoed resident concerns that the city doesn’t have the resources to maintain a registry and that there’s other ways to go about collecting the requested information.
“The conversation scares our residents that our landlords … give them a place to live but are afraid to give documentation because maybe they’re undocumented, and they’re petrified,” he said. “This is a fear that you should weigh.”