Re: [Cleveland-Circle] An appalling development -- and a recommendation -- concerning the enforcement of the "no-more-than-four" ordinance
Eva Webster
Christina A. Clamp
Professor, School of Arts and Sciences
Director, Ph.D. Program, Community Economic Development
Director, Center for Co-operatives & CED
Southern New Hampshire University
2500 N. River Rd.
Manchester, NH 03106
From: cleveland-cir...@googlegroups.com [mailto:cleveland-cir...@googlegroups.com]
On Behalf Of Joanne D'Alcomo
Sent: Sunday, September 06, 2015 8:29 PM
To: cleveland-cir...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [Cleveland-Circle] An appalling development -- and a recommendation -- concerning the enforcement of the "no-more-than-four" ordinance
Michael,
From a public policy standpoint, I think the no-more-than-four-undergraduates ordinance makes sense as a major step in stabilizing Allston and Brighton housing, because it targets a population that is, by definition in our city, massive and transient, and enters the market in a sudden influx, and -- if the provision were enforced – it could help deter landlords (who now know they can pull rents from multiple parents of undergraduate students) from continuing to charge exorbitant rents. Is it a panacea for housing stability and quality of life issues– no? But will it help – I think very much so.
As a longtime Brighton homeowner, I want to encourage long-term occupancy and owner-occupancy – not people passing through. Therefore, I am less concerned about more than four working people living in a group because they are less likely – as a general matter – to be “passing through.”
I understand your concern about homes being carved up, but the ordinance has been on the books since 2008 and I’m not aware of any major trend either when the ordinance was passed or since to carve up homes into smaller units – because, in part, that would involve significant expense. Creating multiple apartments out of 7, 8 or 9 bedroom homes would involve the expense of adding kitchens and bathrooms – and that’s expensive. Also, by code, bedrooms are supposed to have certain window areas that many buildings can’t meet if they are chopped up. And each apartment – if remodeling occurs today – is supposed to have a second egress – which is cumbersome, difficult and expensive for some buildings to meet.
There are upsides and downsides to the no-more-than-four, no question about it. But in terms of weighing the upsides and downsides, I don’t think it would be such a terrible result if some of the 7 or 8 or 9 bedroom homes now pitched by rental agents to undergraduate groups were made into smaller units because people – particularly immature people like undergraduates -- tend to behave differently when they are in larger groups. For example, I think a home that had two apartments with 4 people each who rented the units separately and didn’t know the people in the other unit would have an entirely different social dynamic and different behavior than a house of 8 bedrooms rented by undergraduates who all knew each other and who all lived together. In the situation where 8 (9, or 10 or even more – or even less, like 6 or 7) undergraduates live together, it is far more likely to turn into into a frat-like house or sorority-like house, or "animal house."
My two cents.
Joanne
From:
"michaelgdemarco" <michael...@gmail.com>
To: "Cleveland Circle Community" <cleveland-cir...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, September 6, 2015 5:11:37 PM
Subject: Re: [Cleveland-Circle] An appalling development -- and a recommendation -- concerning the enforcement of the "no-more-than-four" ordinance
No more than four has unintended consequences such as increasing density. It encourages landlords to carve up properties.
Joanne is right, sometimes discrimination is perfectly legal. Students can be discriminated against regardless of age. (Owner occupied two families can also discriminate against children, but they can't say they are doing so and can't ask illegal questions.)
Some real estate attorneys think no more than four could fall in court based on this 2013 decision. It is not clear cut and the Worcester case was certainly different. This
link also shows square footage requirements for multiple tenants.
http://massrealestatelawblog.com/tag/city-of-worcester-v-college-hill-properties/
Another potential issue is no more than four might violate the rent control prohibition act as ordinances can not result in landlords receiving below market rates.
https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleVII/Chapter40P/Section3
If the city wants to get serious about dangerous and overcrowded apartments then apply a standard and go after everyone. Five students in a five bed is illegal but ten non-students in the same unit is legal?! Instead of a CSI/Criminal Minds approach to discover five students in a unit spend those resources on quality of life issues such as loud parties, trash, illegal apartments, showing up quickly after police are called, etc.
No more than four has unintended consequences such as increasing density. It encourages landlords to carve up properties.
Joanne is right, sometimes discrimination is perfectly legal. Students can be discriminated against regardless of age. (Owner occupied two families can also discriminate against children, but they can't say they are doing so and can't ask illegal questions.)
Some real estate attorneys think no more than four could fall in court based on this 2013 decision. It is not clear cut and the Worcester case was certainly different. This
link also shows square footage requirements for multiple tenants.
http://massrealestatelawblog.com/tag/city-of-worcester-v-college-hill-properties/
Another potential issue is no more than four might violate the rent control prohibition act as ordinances can not result in landlords receiving below market rates.
https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleVII/Chapter40P/Section3
If the city wants to get serious about dangerous and overcrowded apartments then apply a standard and go after everyone. Five students in a five bed is illegal but ten non-students in the same unit is legal?! Instead of a CSI/Criminal Minds approach to discover five students in a unit spend those resources on quality of life issues such as loud parties, trash, illegal apartments, showing up quickly after police are called, etc.
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Joanne D'Alcomo
This is an excerpt from an article on BostonGlobe.com Friday, which includes a quote from him:
The city last year identified several hundred units that appeared to violate the rule barring more than four undergraduates from living together, but never issued a violation.
William Christopher, commissioner of Boston’s Inspectional Services Department, said the rule is “basically unenforceable.”
This declaration by a top city official is astounding because the ordinance creating this change in the zoning code was signed into law in early 2008 – more than 7 years ago. And it’s been more than a year since the Globe Spotlight Team did a series focusing attention on overcrowded student housing and rampant violations of the ordinance. And it’s only NOW that the city has come to the conclusion that the ordinance is unenforceable? And this conclusion is just surfacing in a Globe interview?
This development is appalling and should be a major embarrassment to
City Hall because it conveys the impression that people did not take enforcement of the ordinance seriously if it took this long to figure it out. In fact, it looks like the City has never taken the ordinance seriously because as recently as today – as incredible as this may be -- I can’t locate any reference to the ordinance, and informing people about the ordinance, on the City of Boston’s website: not on ISD’s main site, not on the “housing” section of ISD’s website, not on the segment of the city of Boston website for “students” and in particular rental housing for “students,” not on the city of Boston’s page for the Office of Neighborhood Development that is described as the “rental housing center” and another page touted as listing “Top 10 Things Landlords Need To Know” and not even on the ISD section of the website containing the requirement landlords to register their rental units. (I may be missing something, but you can look yourself at these links, by way of example.
http://www.cityofboston.gov/residents/housingAndProperty.asp
http://www.cityofboston.gov/students/housing/, http://www.cityofboston.gov/isd/housing/rental.asp ,
http://www.cityofboston.gov/isd/
http://www.cityofboston.gov/isd/housing/
http://dnd.cityofboston.gov/#page/BostonRentalHousingCenter
http://dnd.cityofboston.gov/#page/what_landlords_need_to_know
If the Walsh administration is stumped, it shouldn’t throw up its hands and proclaim defeat (as Commissioner Christopher seems to say has been done). The website for the Department of Neighborhood Development boldly proclaims it is “making Boston the most livable city in the nation.” Well, to do that, City Hall can’t just throw in the towel. The Walsh administration should turn to, among others, legal minds to brainstorm about legal mechanisms and tools – new mechanisms and tools, if necessary – to enforce this provision of the zoning code to help neighborhood stabilization and indeed help to make Boston a livable city.
The important purposes of the zoning code provision – as specifically expressed at the time of its passage – included improving the quality of life in Boston’s neighborhoods, preserving the character of Boston’s neighborhoods and alleviating the environmental and economic consequences of overcrowded student apartments. It was recognized that a lack of limits on the number of undergraduates in units causes rents to become exorbitant, which has a cascading effect on rents in other housing, and ultimately drives up the cost of housing in general and deters and drives out owner-occupancy. The housing market gets dominated and distorted by investors who squeeze multiple tenants into units in order to obtain not just some profit but outlandish profits at the expense of the quality of life in the neighborhoods.
The city’s law department may be too busy and overburdened to deal with this, but the Boston area is teeming with legal minds. It has thousands of lawyers, 6 law schools (BU, BC, Harvard, Northeastern, Suffolk, New England) -- with their many professors – and thousands of law students. At the very least, Boston should turn to experts and thinkers on zoning law and code enforcement and housing, and expanding to other areas to develop strategies and solutions.
The Walsh administration should make this a top priority, and a success story, rather than a major embarrassment and a flagrant failure of city government. After all, this is not as challenging as trying to solve world hunger or the refugee crisis in Europe, and there is no reason to treat it that way. There are many steps that could be taken to make significant progress to enforce this important zoning code provision.
For starters, if City Hall is truly stumped at this point, the Mayor should immediately form a high level panel or task force with representatives of various city agencies as well as members of the public with the appropriate expertise – armed with the authority to say it represents the Mayor when it reaches out for assistance – to formulate specific strategies for addressing the issues relating to the enforcement of this important zoning provision and associated issues.
For the Mayor to fail to take meaningful, bold steps at this point would be tantamount to turning over to landlords, who largely live in the suburbs and are not his constituents, reign over Brighton and Allston, which in turn would condemn Brighton and Allston homeowners and long-term residents -- who are truly the Mayor's constituents -- to continuing neighborhood de-stabilization, neighborhood degradation and deterioration in quality of life.
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Joanne D'Alcomo
Eva,
I think it’s useful to have a healthy discussion about policy issues that affect the neighborhood, and I certainly don’t mind your disagreeing (or any other person disagreeing) with my position. That’s what “discussion” is all about, after all!
And I’m not against exploring the notion of licensing that you mention as a way to control the conditions of units rented to students– assuming, for the moment, that such a scheme would be legal. But I have a hard time imagining – if this is what you are thinking -- that a licensing scheme akin to liquor licensing that controls THE NUMBER of licenses that can be issued, and the SPECIFIC LOCATIONS in which they can be issued -- meaning the number and location of properties that could rent to undergraduates -- would be legal in the property law context. I think that type of restraint on the use of property would probably have a very uphill battle in the courts, but I’m not even sure that’s what you were thinking.
In any event, licensing by itself as you refer to it would NOT control the number of undergraduates in any one unit – and that’s what I am in totally in favor of doing.
Limiting the number of undergraduates in any one unit helps to address the serious problem of exorbitant rents in Brighton and Allston, which de-stabilize neighborhoods because of the ripple effect such rents have on housing. Licensing wouldn’t have any effect on exorbitant rents (unless, of course, licensing was conditioned on a limit on the number of undergraduates, and then we are back at the limit to which you object).
On the other hand, if the city enforces the no-more-than-four ordinance, then landlords would be less able to charge outlandish rents for 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 bedroom units, because the landlords wouldn’t be able to pull rents from 5, 6, 7 or 8 different middle class or upper class families financing the students. The practice of landlords charging exorbitant rents for units simply because they can – rather than charging rents that reflect the true state of the units – artificially inflates rents in general in Brighton and Allston, and more importantly, creates a ripple effect that drives up the cost of houses and two and three-family homes in Allston and Brighton and thus deters owner-occupancy. If investors believe they can put unlimited numbers of undergraduates into a unit, the investors will pay much more for a home or two-family or three-family because they expect the return to be significant. Potential owner-occupants are thus priced out of the market.
I know you fear that landlords will chop up homes to meet the no-more-than-four requirement, but that hasn’t happened as far as I am aware, and even if it did, I don’t think that would be such a bad result. Any building “divided up” to meet the no-more-than-four requirement would likely end up having LESS DENSITY, NOT MORE, because to create a new apartment, the landlord would have to use up space to install more kitchens(one for each unit) and, in all likelihood, more bathrooms. And voila – fewer bedrooms, and thus fewer occupants and less density!
Joanne
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Joanne D'Alcomo
Eva, I think it’s useful to have a healthy discussion about policy issues that affect the neighborhood, and I certainly don’t mind your disagreeing (or any other person disagreeing) with my position. That’s what “discussion” is all about, after all!
And I’m not against exploring the notion of licensing that you mention as a way to control the conditions of units rented to students– assuming, for the moment, that such a scheme would be legal. But I have a hard time imagining – if this is what you are thinking -- that a licensing scheme akin to liquor licensing that controls THE NUMBER of licenses that can be issued, and the SPECIFIC LOCATIONS in which they can be issued -- meaning the number and location of properties that could rent to undergraduates -- would be legal in the property law context. I think that type of restraint on the use of property would probably have a very uphill battle in the courts, but I’m not even sure that’s what you were thinking.
In any event, licensing by itself as you refer to it would NOT control the number of undergraduates in any one unit – and that’s what I am in totally in favor of doing.
Limiting the number of undergraduates in any one unit helps to address the serious problem of exorbitant rents in Brighton and Allston, which de-stabilize neighborhoods because of the ripple effect such rents have on housing. Licensing wouldn’t have any effect on exorbitant rents (unless, of course, licensing was conditioned on a limit on the number of undergraduates, and then we are back at the limit to which you object).
On the other hand, if the city enforces the no-more-than-four ordinance, then landlords would be less able to charge outlandish rents for 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 bedroom units, because the landlords wouldn’t be able to pull rents from 5, 6, 7 or 8 different middle class or upper class families financing the students. The practice of landlords charging exorbitant rents for units simply because they can – rather than charging rents that reflect the true state of the units – artificially inflates rents in general in Brighton and Allston, and more importantly, creates a ripple effect that drives up the cost of houses and two and three-family homes in Allston and Brighton and thus deters owner-occupancy. If investors believe they can put unlimited numbers of undergraduates into a unit, the investors will pay much more for a home or two-family or three-family because they expect the return to be significant. Potential owner-occupants are thus priced out of the market.
I know you fear that landlords will chop up homes to meet the no-more-than-four requirement, but that hasn’t happened as far as I am aware, and even if it did, I don’t think that would be such a bad result. Any building “divided up” to meet the no-more-than-four requirement would likely end up having LESS DENSITY, NOT MORE, because to create a new apartment, the landlord would have to use up space to install more kitchens(one for each unit) and, in all likelihood, more bathrooms. And voila – fewer bedrooms, and thus fewer occupants and less density!
Joanne
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Charles Denison
- Why are more than four students bad but more than four non-students okay? I've had neighbors who have completed college who are very rowdy and ones who are students who are very quiet.
- How is a landlord reasonably supposed to tell whether someone is a student or not?
- It makes no distinction about number of bedrooms. By this rule, you could put four students in a one bedroom apartment but no more than four in an apartment with more than four bedrooms.
- Why is it okay to discriminate against students when it's clearly not okay to discriminate on other characteristics?
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Emma Hawes
Mike D
Not sure if you are on the Cleveland Circle group, but there are more posts on there stating that students are not a protected class, so landlords can say no students, no pets, certain income limits and credit reports etc.
While I do think schools need to provide enough beds for all their undergrads, I wonder if students are being scapegoated for high rents and prices in Brighton. According to this Globe article there are about 1.5k students living off campus in Brighton.
Brighton has a population approaching 40k people, so off campus undergrads are less than 4 percent of the population. If/when they all return to campus how will prices change?
Joanne D'Alcomo
Mike,
I'm finally getting around to writing about your comment in which you wondered if college students were being scapegoated for high rents and prices in Brighton. Here's my thinking:
College students have an impact on housing far beyond their pure numbers. Just think of it: leases in Allston and Brighton (and certain other neighborhoods of the city) begin September 1. Now that’s not because professionals or working people or singles or even families suddenly need housing on September 1, but rather it’s because college students drive the Boston rental market and the September 1 date is intended to coincide with the start of the first semester of the college calendar year.
Even if all landlords don’t ultimately end up renting a particular unit to college students, many of the landlords – and their rental agents – advertise in hopes of doing so and in hopes of collecting exorbitant rents from groups of undergraduates, or for that matter, groups of graduate students. In other words, the number of apartments pitched to college students is greater than the number that are ultimately rented by college students because rarely does supply precisely match demand in this context. In fact, this is proven by the remnants of rentals still available on the internet now in Brighton and Allston that were geared toward students for September 1, and went unfilled by college students apparently.
As a result of college students driving the rental market, rents in areas where there are concentrations of students such as Brighton and Allston are dominated by, and distorted by, the effect of those thousands of students in the marketplace. The high rents typically don't reflect the quality of the housing – rather, they reflect the number of tenants the landlord expects to be able to fit into the apartment or house, specifically, and often, the number of college students with different financial resources, such as parents.
If college students didn’t have such an impact on rents in Allston and Brighton (and, as a consequence, housing prices in general since the market value of homes and condos is correspondingly affected by rents), you wouldn’t see the overwhelming number of leases in our area begin September 1, and apartments so heavily advertised for September 1. The fact that lease terms start on September 1 for the most part in Allston and Brighton is so well-recognized that the media regularly covers the jammed streets and chaos that ensues each year in our neighborhoods on that date. No such traffic and moving-in chaos occurs at other times of the year, and there is no media coverage. In fact, the only activity remotely approaching the move-in frenzy of September 1 in Allston and Brighton is the moving-out chaos at the end of the college year – May.
So, I think that the empirical proof of the impact of college students on Brighton and Allston rents is prevalence of lease terms beginning on September 1, and the accompanying advertising that we all have access to on the internet in the spring and summer where landlords and agents flood the rental listings seeking tenants for September 1. There is simply no other time of the year that I am aware of in which so many apartments and homes in Brighton and Allston are advertised to start a lease term, other than September 1.
Joanne
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Mike
Mike
Orkney Road
AngelaT
Sigh! What the world we are living.