Some Boston renters say their landlords quietly turned eviction scares into long-running bills, and now they are taking the fight to federal court.
Tenants have filed lawsuits accusing major corporate owners of slipping legal fees from eviction cases onto residents’ rent ledgers even when the cases were dismissed or never reached a judge. The suits target national landlords AvalonBay and Greystar and claim those charges effectively forced tenants to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars just to stay in their homes. Tenant advocates argue that the practice piles extra financial pressure onto households already stretched thin by high rents and can push people closer to displacement.
As reported by The Boston Globe, the complaints list renters Lisa Almeida and Shaun Cordeiro among the plaintiffs and say landlords added line items for legal costs even after eviction proceedings were dropped. The filings ask judges to rule that charging the other side’s legal fees without a court judgment and judicial review violates Massachusetts law. Lawyers for the tenants say those entries function in practice as debt that renters feel compelled to pay to avoid the immediate risk of losing their housing…