A proposed ballot measure to reintroduce rent control to Massachusetts will not go before voters this fall following a Supreme Judicial Court ruling that the law would be unconstitutional, reported the Boston Business Journal. The potential ballot question failed to advance to voters because of an exemption for religious institutions. A ballot question would have “impermissibly” made religion a factor in whether a property was subject to rent control or exempted from it, the court ruled.
The ballot initiative has been closely watched by the state’s real estate community and by proponents concerned about the region’s high cost of living. NAIOP Massachusetts and other industry groups opposed it. If passed in November, the law would have made Massachusetts just the third state with such restrictions, along with California and Oregon.
Rent control was legal in Massachusetts until a voter referendum in 1994. The ballot question called for limiting annual rent increases to the cost of living, with a cap at 5%. For units renting at $2,000 per month, the increase would be limited to $100.
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