At legislative hearing for the initiative petition to mandate rent control across each of Massachusetts’ 351 cities and towns, panelists describe practical impacts of poorly written proposal
BOSTON, MA – MARCH 17, 2026 – Elected officials, community leaders, and small property owners testified in front of the Special Joint Committee on Initiative Petitions on Tuesday against the proposed rent control ballot question. The one-size-fits-all housing policy would repeal a law passed by voters in 1994 and eventually would apply to virtually all privately owned rental housing across the Commonwealth that is not owner occupied.
“I served 21 years, including two tours in Afghanistan and one in Iraq. Throughout, I saved every penny I could to invest in my future, and I put those savings into real estate,” said Steffen Amun Ra, MassLandlords Board Member and small property owner. “I own six residential rental units in Massachusetts, purchased through my sacrifice as a servicemember. These investments are my path to financial security. This ballot question would strip it all away.”
The question would cap rental rate increases at the annual change in the Consumer Price Index, which has averaged about 2.58% over the past twenty years – with no exceptions for building renovations and no appeal process for property owners to recover costs for upgrades or improvements. That would be the lowest statewide cap in the U.S. Unlike in other states, the Massachusetts proposal would also apply to vacant units, meaning that for property owners who kept rents lower for elderly or long-term residents, they will never be able to catch up to market rates when those homes are vacated.
“The proponents have created their own definition of what it means to be a small property owner and now they want to impose that ideology on the entire state,” said Tony Lopes, Vice President of Small Property Owners Association and small property owner. “Many of us own two- or three-family homes. We are teachers, tradesmen, retirees, immigrants, and families who invested our savings to purchase property and create a reliable income stream to pay our mortgages, taxes, insurance, and repairs; to reinvest in our properties and our communities. We are not corporations. We are your neighbors.”
Last week, the Tufts Center for State Policy Analysis conducted a research study that illustrates the extreme consequences of this proposal on property values, finding that over the next decade $300 billion of Massachusetts property values would be eliminated, crushing municipal budgets and forcing local leaders to cut back on key services or drastically hike local tax rates to keep up.
“Cities like Methuen thrive because small property owners are truly part of the community,” said Councilor Neily Soto, Chair, Methuen City Council. “We need policies that empower people to move forward, not trap them. Rent control discourages investment, slows housing development, reduces mobility, and reduces housing supply – the exact opposite of what our communities need.”
Massachusetts has a unique history with rent control, as Boston, Brookline, and Cambridge implemented the program for nearly 25 years until voters repealed it through the statewide ballot process in 1994. During the 94 election, voters across the Commonwealth recognized that the policy did not benefit low-income residents. In fact, an MIT researcher at the time found that 90% of occupants of rent-controlled units in Cambridge were white, college educated, in their prime earning years aged 25 to 40, single and living alone. That fundamental flaw is not corrected in the ballot question proposed in 2026.
“Those of us who were in the building trades when rent control was repealed by the voters in 1994 remember what came next in Boston: 30 years of investment and job creation. Cranes went up. Housing production accelerated, and investment returned to communities that had stagnated for decades,” said Mike Monahan, Vice President of the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers District 2. “The proposal before us today would reverse that progress and send us back in time, but on an entirely new and worse scale. The fact is that nobody has to build in Massachusetts. Investors, developers and contractors go where the work is and where projects can move forward.”
Housing for Massachusetts is a coalition of Massachusetts citizens, small property owners, family-owned real estate companies, affordable housing developers, and housing advocates. We aim to educate and advocate for policies that support housing creation in Massachusetts, improving availability and affordability for all. Learn more at HousingforMass.com
Media Contact:
Julianne Hester