Rent control deal needs more of real estate industry on board, Michlewitz says

As talk swirls around a possible compromise to the rent control proposal heading toward November’s ballot, a top House official said Wednesday that proponents need to get “a large group of other folks in the real estate community on board” for one to materialize.

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House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz said he has not been “necessarily actively going back and forth with anybody” but “I do feel like it still has some ways to go if we’re going to get a true compromise between the proponents and the entirety of the real estate community.”

Supporters of the ballot question put forward compromise language a few weeks ago. On Tuesday, NAIOP, one of the most powerful real estate lobbies in the state, said it is now ready to negotiate a form of rent stabilization to prevent the much more restrictive and statewide cap going before voters this November.

The timeline to negotiate is shrinking, however. Question supporters must submit a second round of signatures to the secretary of state’s office by July 1, which serves as a de facto deadline for a legislative solution to keep the question off the ballot. The secretary’s office begins printing voter information guides in July that will have to include the rent control measure, or not.

“I know we had a new addition to the conversation yesterday, and I know that there is new proposals that have been put on the table,” Michlewitz said.

He continued, “I haven’t really had any real conversations directly about those, but I do know that there are, again, there still is a large group of other folks in the real estate community that have not weighed in or not necessarily on board with any potential compromise. So I do feel like it still has some ways to go.”

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Also Tuesday, the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations sent a letter to lawmakers signaling support for the compromise, which would allow cities and towns individually to opt into a common rent control policy.

“Many of us agree that ballot questions can be too blunt an instrument to enact nuanced policy, and this is one of the many reasons we are in such strong support of this thoughtful, balanced compromise,” the letter said. “We respectfully urge the Legislature to advance this compromise rent stabilization measure and provide all cities and towns with an optional tool to address housing affordability challenges.”

Asked about the looming July 1 deadline, Michlewitz said, “I mean, it’s getting close. So, yeah. It’s getting tight in terms of timing. But sometimes these things come together at the end, sometimes they don’t.”

The Supreme Judicial Court heard a challenge to the rent control initiative petition in May, but has not yet issued its decision.

Reporters asked Michlewitz if he was waiting for the SJC opinion.

“Do they have, the SJC, a challenge on the rent control too? I’m sorry, I can’t even keep up with how many there are,” he said. “I’m not personally, I’m not waiting for that myself, and I don’t want to speak for my colleagues, but I do know that some folks may think that that is the way to go, but I think, I’m not banking on anything at this point.”

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Ella Adams and Colin A. Young contributed to reporting.