So you’ve lost your job. Should you renew your lease?
What are the risks? Massachusetts renters still have protections, experts say. Continue reading at realestate.boston.com.
The end of federal unemployment benefits in September was certain to heighten the job-search anxiety of people who were laid off or furloughed during the pandemic, including more than 300,000 Massachusetts residents.
Although the unemployment rate dropped for the third week straight last week, Massachusetts still has 217,000 fewer jobs than it did pre-pandemic, and unemployment in the state is still 1.7 percentage points higher than it was when the pandemic began, according to the Globe’s Larry Edelman.
At the same time, the federal eviction moratorium came to end, though some municipalities, including Boston, decided to ban them locally. The termination of pandemic-era unemployment assistance coinciding with the end of the federal eviction moratorium leaves much uncertainty for tenants who were relying on the benefits to cover their rent payments. For unemployed renters deciding whether or not to renew their lease, Brian Carberry, Apartment Guide’s senior managing editor of content marketing, said there are a number of things to consider.
“The largest risk of renewing your lease after you’ve lost your job is having a steady stream of income to pay for your rent,” Carberry said in an e-mail. “If you’re not able to pay your rent, you’ll be at a greater risk of eviction, and if that happens, that red mark will stay on your record for years as you try to find another place to live.”
However, renters in Massachusetts do have some protections, said Doug Quattrochi, executive director of MassLandlords, a nonprofit trade association.
“If for any reason you have to break a lease, in Massachusetts a landlord has what’s called the ‘duty to cure,’ which means the landlord has to try to re-rent the place and minimize their losses, and then you’re off the hook for whatever part of the lease the landlord can rent to someone else,” Quattrochi said.
Furthermore, landlords typically don’t conduct a new tenant screening on people who are renewing their lease, but they nearly always do on new tenants, Quattrochi said, so if you can keep up with the payments, it’s safer to stay where you are.
“If there’s a way for you to pay the rent, and the landlord doesn’t know about your job change, most folks never find out,” Quattrochi said.
Without a steady income stream, or significant savings that could cover your cost of living, a landlord will be unlikely to approve a lease, Carberry said. In that case, you’ll need to find someone to back you up — a roommate or a cosigner who can put up the rest of the rent if you fall behind.
Regardless of the situation, communicating with your landlord is key, Quattrochi said.
“We’re big advocates for communication. If you’ve lost your job, it’s probably a good idea to tell your landlord: ‘I’ve lost my job. I’m taking care of the place. I still want to live here. I’m going to fight for unemployment.’ … It’s a good idea to let everybody know what’s going on,” he said.
If you think you’ll struggle to make rent payments, Carberry urged caution. “Don’t just assume that things will work out if you don’t have a plan in place,” he said. “If you sign a lease knowing you’re not likely to be able to make the payments, an eviction will just cause more problems for you in the future and will really hurt your ability to rent your next apartment.”
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