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Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
‘I'm really worried.' With the state's hotel shelter system closing, families struggle to find places to live
'I'm really worried,' Amparo, 37, said in Spanish in an interview on Monday. The change, she says, 'is a big burden.' She doesn't have a full-time job, so for the time being, she can't afford rent, even though a state program could subsidize some of the costs, she said. Her children are ages 15, 10, and 9, one of whom has special needs. 'At the hotel, we knew the system, and life was a little easier,' she said. Now, one question runs through her mind often as her family is shuffled from one place to another. 'Will we keep being able to be in a shelter or have to go to the street?' On Monday, as the state moved another step closer to fully shuttering its hotel shelter system — which at its peak last year saw more than 128 hotels open — a number of these facilities across Greater Boston appeared largely desolate. The number of families requesting housing in the state's shelter system has dropped dramatically from a year ago. The Emergency Assistance shelter system was sheltering about 7,500 homeless families at its height last year, but as of last week, 3,740 families were housed in the system, according to state data. Advertisement Ed Augustus, secretary of the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, said in a statement last week that, 'Now, costs are going down, we are closing all hotels, and the number of families in EA shelter is below the level when we first took office.' Advertisement He acknowledged the Healey administration 'inherited a surge in families and an Emergency Shelter System that was not equipped to handle it.' In Danvers, the parking lot of a Motel 6, once bustling with residents, was nearly empty, with just a few workers moving boxes and mattresses. In Chelsea, at the former soldiers' home, which was converted to a temporary shelter more than a year ago, barely a handful of families were coming out of the building. In Peabody, a former Holiday Inn which previously housed dozens of families, including Amparo and her children, showed no signs of the families who had lived there just a few days earlier. The closure of these hotel shelters has raised questions about where exactly families will be living — and if the available housing options provide a sustainable future for their families. On Monday, 11 hotel shelters closed, a spokesperson for the housing office said, and in total, 24 hotel shelter programs have closed this month. As of July 1, only four hotel shelters will remain, and all hotel shelters will be closed by July 31, according to the state. 'Providers and on-site case managers have been working closely with all impacted families to help them identify secure housing before the closing date,' the spokesperson said. Governor Maura Healey had planned to phase out the use of hotel shelters by the end of the year, but she Advertisement Advocates and the state have been looking to relocate many of the families through Andrea Park, an advocacy director at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, said that some housing providers were 'really caught off guard' by how quickly the timing was changing. 'For providers, it's extremely difficult to try to provide a meaningful opportunity to set families up for success, under an artificial time deadline,' Park said. 'We are concerned about families who are being set up to fail.' In Revere, rumors about shelters closing were swirling at the former Quality Inn, which appeared to still be in use as a family shelter on Monday. Some residents said they were concerned about what the other hotel closures could mean for them. 'It's scary, not knowing,' said Alandra Abreu as she pushed her 1-year-old in a stroller in the parking lot. She has been at the Quality Inn for about a week, but said she hasn't heard from the staff about what's next for the facility. 'They haven't said anything to us,' Abreu, 25, said. Some shelter residents and public officials have reported concerns about the safety inside state shelters, where more than 1,000 serious incidents, including more than a dozen alleged sex offenses, Advertisement Still, these facilities became a lifeline for thousands of families with children who had arrived in Massachusetts from countries across the Caribbean and Latin America — especially from Haiti —who fled violence, poverty, and extreme economic instability. Pastor Dieufort Fleurissaint, who goes by his nickname Pastor Keke, said that the nonprofit he founded, True Alliance Center, has been working to help connect hotel shelter residents with housing through the HomeBASE program. Many of the families True Alliance works with are Haitian and formed part of the tens of thousands of recent arrivals who sought housing in the shelter system in recent years. Though Pastor Keke said he had not received any calls on Monday from residents unable to find housing as the hotels closed, he is particularly anxious about what will happen to the immigrant families placed into HomeBASE, who may have their legal status and work permits revoked under recent Trump administration directives. The administration recently announced that Temporary Protected Status for Haitians WelcomeNST, a volunteer organization that helps resettle immigrants and refugees, has interviewed around 20 families living in hotel shelters for resettlement in towns across New England, said Elizabeth Davis-Edwards, the founder and CEO. Davis-Edwards has spoken to people who held full-time jobs while living in the shelters, only to lose their employment after being transferred to another facility out of commuting distance. 'There has to be a clear path to that family being able to stand on their own feet,' Davis-Edwards said. Advertisement So far, the volunteer teams in three towns have signed up to help families leaving the hotel shelters to access housing there, but Davis-Edwards is eager to recruit more volunteers. 'It doesn't mean it's easy, but every time, a team will find housing for a family,' Davis-Edwards said. Samantha J. Gross and Stephanie Ebbert of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio can be reached at
Boston Globe
06-06-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Is it time to wave goodbye to home inspections as a negotiation tool?
Advertisement In recent years, some home buyers who waived their home inspection contingencies have discovered surprising and sometimes - purchase inspections for homeowners who waived their right to have their house inspected before they bought and later regretted it. 'We've done post - purchase inspections where we've found [dangerous] knob and tube wiring and others with underground oil tanks,' he said. 'One of my colleagues inspected a house that was clearly built on a concrete foundation that contained Advertisement Presumably, if those homes had been inspected prior to purchase, an inspector would have flagged them. The buyer could then have withdrawn the offer or negotiated a price that reflected the need for vital, expensive repairs. A contingent from the that was folded into the Massachusetts' 'The y inspectors approached me with concerns that home buyers felt pressure to sacrifice their home inspection, and we talked about the liability that someone could incur by not having the home inspection,' Moore said. 'I'm happy that the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities established some regulations that the home inspectors are happy with. This is going to benefit potential homeowners. It will protect their quality of life and their future financial security.' While home buyer advocates applaud the intention of the law — to level the playing field in what has been a years-long seller's market because of lack of inventory — one concern that came up in every interview for this story was the difficulty to enforce it. A buyer's agent could find a way to communicate that their client will forgo an inspection if their offer is accepted. As long as nothing is in writing, who would know? Advertisement 'We've seen our veteran and first-time home buyer clients get shut out of the market for almost a decade because of inspection contingencies. It's a huge problem, so I'm all for this change,' said attorney Scott Kriss of There are consequences for agents found violating the new law. The regulations read, 'A violation or failure to comply with the provisions of Agents and brokers found violating Chapter 93A can be liable for triple the cost of the actual damages. 'At least it'll put agents in the mindset,' Kriss said. 'They can't lead with, 'We're only taking offers with no inspections.' And whether that will happen or not, they're going to be in the frame of mind that this is something that they can't do.' Advertisement Rich Rosa, cofounder and co-owner of Haverhill-based 'This doesn't seem like an unreasonable consumer protection, especially when the things that could be wrong with a house could have catastrophic financial consequences, especially for first-time home buyers and for more moderate-income home buyers,' he said. 'If you're buying a $3 million house and there's a $50,000 problem, it's probably not a big deal. But if you're buying a $550,000 house and there's a $30,000 or $40,000 problem, that is a big deal for a lot of people.' 'The truth of the matter is, when we get into frenzied markets where buyers who have made five or six offers and lost out, they do things out of desperation that could be really harmful in the future,' he said. 'They could waive an inspection contingency out of desperation. Then, there could be something really wrong with that house that could cost them an enormous amount of money and heartache.' Nemetz said if a lawsuit arises from a situation like that, the real estate agents involved are almost always named in the suit. So, a thorough home inspection actually protects agents and sellers, as well as home buyers. A six-page, Advertisement 'These regulations, as currently drafted, present sweeping changes that will fundamentally disrupt the real estate market, and pose serious legal, logistical, and ethical concerns for our members,' the letter reads. 'The compressed implementation timeline, overbroad liability language, and the introduction of inequitable exemptions, to name a few, will not only create immediate and irreparable harm to real estate professionals and consumers alike, but also undermine the very intent of the statute.' Jim Morrison can be reached at . Follow him on X .
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
With sale of Borinquen Apartments, New England Farm Workers Council pays off debt to state over misspent money
SPRINGFIELD – The New England Farm Workers sold the Borinquen Apartments in the North End this week to the building's longtime managers for $1.36 million. The sale of the 23-unit building at 2772 Main St. helps pay off the last of a $1.8 million debt owed to the state over misspent fuel assistance funds, says Daniel Knapik, the former Westfield mayor brought in to liquidate the nonprofit's real estate and satisfy the state. The state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities filed a release of the farm workers group's mortgage Tuesday in the Hampden County Registry of Deeds, confirming that the debt has been satisfied. The buyers are Isla Associates 1 and its manager, Maggie Rivera. The $1.36 million sale nearly completes the unwinding of a real estate portfolio amassed by Heriberto 'Herbie' Flores, the former head of the farm workers. In an emailed response to questions, Rivera referred to ongoing litigation seeking to block the sale of properties in the Brightwood area spurred by the involvement of Flores, founder of the farmworkers group. 'I am a property manager by trade. I never had ambition to own property. For over 30 years, I've worked to help improve quality of life for people less blessed than I,' she wrote. 'At some point, the asset became transactional. Brightwood properties that were once developed to promote our neighborhood were being sold. Once that happens, priorities shift, and the community loses its voice,' Rivera wrote. 'Borinquen was not under the protection of litigation as other Brightwood-owned properties in the community. So, we stepped up.' She said company Isla had credibility with U.S. Housing and Urban Development and with the state. This made the transaction easier. 'I love what I do, I love the people I work for,' Rivera wrote. 'Wealth comes in many forms. The day after closing will be just another workday. I will continue to zealously advocate for our residents their homes and the preservation of property intended for our community.' Knapik addressed what remains to be sold. 'Looking back, it's not overly complicated,' said Knapik, who headed the farm workers for about four years until leaving for a new job. 'Properties were bought with the mindset that the farm workers would operate services out of the properties, either them or an affiliate.' But the group lost contracts with the state and federal governments to perform services and it lost business tenants with the pandemic. 'They were left with all these buildings and no way to pay for them,' he said. The farm workers council was once the local administrators for LIHEAP, the Low Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program that helps people with energy bills in winter. But auditors say the group inappropriately spent $1.8 million in LIHEAP funds to prop pup other operations. The group had to pledge its real estate portfolio as collateral until it paid off the debt, a promise in the form of a mortgage in 2023. The properties included not only Borinquen but also the Paramount Theatre, Massasoit House and the massive complex at 1618 Main St. where The Student Prince Café and The Fort are located. Both have already sold, the Paramount to a Connecticut family that plans to take on a failed redevelopment project and the The Fort to the same team of investors who saved the restaurant business and were renting from the farm workers nonprofit. Besides programming, Flores' group held contracts with federal and state government tenants, including the Massachusetts Lottery. Knapik, who is now a consultant with the farm workers, said there are only a few properties remaining in the group's portfolio. That includes 217-225 High St. in Holyoke, a former bank building that has not sold at repeated auctions. The organization still owns vacant lots in Springfield's heavily Hispanic North End near the Borinquen. Those properties will be sold, Knapik said. The money will be put towards paying off other debts. In addition to the LIHEAP debt, the sale of real estate has also funded $3.19 million in mortgage loan payoffs of various buildings. That money was owed to Westfield Bank, TD Bank North, Community Bank and Berkshire Bank, Knapik said. Further, the city of Springfield has been paid $214,235.91 to cover a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development loan. That money came from the sale of a property at 21-23 Hampden St. in Springfield, the Shakago Bar and Grill building. The group also owed over $500,000 in property taxes. Just the sale of the Borinquen was a complex transaction, Knapik said. Out of the purchase price for the Borinquen, Isla paid the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities nearly $69,0000 to cover back fees for tax credit asset management. These fees are related to a 2013 rehab of the property funded in part with tax credits. The farm workers netted $1.3 million from the sale. Of that, $576,000 went to pay off the LIHEAP debt. The City of Springfield was paid $50,000 for an outstanding HUD loan. Westfield Bank was paid $603,000 on five separate loans. Legal fees associated with the transaction were $61,000 going back to a letter of intent with another potential purchaser in 2023. The farm workers negotiated with Isla and the other potential buyer for years, Knapik said. The Borinquen was once known as the Hooker Apartments, named apparently in honor of Civil War general and Hadley native Joseph Hooker. It was built in 1908. Today, it's a neatly kept property with families seen coming and going and a first-floor laundromat. PeoplesBank buys naming rights to Hartford arena Residential retrofitting program turns on high-speed internet for Bay Meadow Apts. in Springfield Chicopee budget up 6% on personnel, police costs; mayor proposes $3M to defray taxes Read the original article on MassLive. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Takes away rights': Mass. realtors upset with new law meant to help first-time homebuyers
Buying a home is a challenging and sometimes risky endeavor. Every buyer is worried about finding expensive problems after all the paperwork has been signed. A new state law goes into effect regarding the use of home inspectors on Friday. Supporters of the measure believe it will help home buyers, particularly those in the market for the first time. Some real estate professionals feel it will put unworkable limits on both buyers and sellers. The new law comes at a time when it has never been more challenging for first-time homebuyers in eastern Massachusetts. The Greater Boston Association of Realtors says the median price for a single-family home in the region is now $988,000. It's a frustrating situation for people like Tina Shukar. She has unsuccessfully been trying to buy her first house for several years now. She has a good career in sales. 'The problem is that I am competing against companies that do home flips, and they use cash to buy properties, and skip inspections and all that.' The new law will make it against the law to condition the sale of property on a waiver of an inspection, said State Senator Will Brownsberger (D-Suffolk/Middlesex). This law is part of the Affordable Homes Act, which was signed by Governor Maura Healey last August. It's one of about 50 housing initiatives in the $5 billion dollar plus law. Brownsberger was part of the Senate conference as the bill went through the legislature. 'The first-time homebuyers, the people we are trying to help in the housing market, are especially disadvantaged by that market dynamic of private equity... Coming into the local real estate market and snapping up properties.' Brownsberger says those types of buyers are better suited to handle the risks of foregoing an inspection. One reason the senate got involved was because of a wide scale problem with concrete in central Massachusetts. 25 Investigates first reported on how concrete was compromised with pyrrhotite and was susceptible to crumbling. 'We recognize that rules can have unintended consequences, so we left the details of this bill to the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities to put out some regulations.' 'What happened here isn't right,' said Anthony Lamacchia, the CEO and also a broker, at The Lamacchia Companies. 'It takes away rights from buyers and sellers and it's a real problem.' Lamacchia isn't opposed to home inspections. In fact, he often thinks they're a good idea. But it's the part of the new law that really bothers him. It would prohibit the sale of a property, or 'accepting an offer if the seller has been informed in advance that the prospective buyer intends to waive their right to an inspection.' Lamacchia added, 'It is literally going to prohibit realtors from doing things that they are supposed to do. You are supposed to convey what a buyer is trying to achieve. You are supposed to advocate for the advantages of the seller taking your buyer's offer. Now if a seller hears that or a listing agent hears that, they're not supposed to accept that offer. It doesn't make sense.' Brownsberger believes it will help 'remove some of the advantages that those cash buyers have.' Lamacchia said, 'Listen, this is capitalism, and in capitalism, there are highs and lows in all kinds of ways.' The Housing Office will report out their final regulations, and they will become law, on June 6th. Senator Brownsberger said it's common for the legislature to approve of an outline of their intentions and then have the appropriate agency fill in the specifics. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Unlawful contracts, overpaid for services: 4 takeaways from the audit of state's emergency shelter system
The state's housing division failed to properly manage and oversee its emergency shelter program while it experienced record-high demand in recent years, according to analysts in State Auditor Diana DiZoglio's office. Beginning in December 2022, the state's Emergency Assistance shelter network began to see skyrocketing numbers of families seeking housing. To keep up with the demand, the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (ELHOC) — and its precursor under former Gov. Charlie Baker, the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development — placed hundreds of families temporarily in hotels and motels around the state. However, according to the 74-page audit report released earlier this week, state officials signed 'unlawful' emergency contracts with some service providers and failed to adequately oversee and document their agreements with others. The report did not include an overall amount of money that was wasted due to the lack of contract and program oversight. Below are four main takeaways from the auditor's report: Two of the many contracts EOHLC issued to keep up with the shelter demand did not follow the procurement process required for state agencies. Though EOHLC argued that it was justified in signing these contracts because of the emergency situation, the State Auditor's Office disagreed. Typically, state agencies are required to solicit bids from prospective contractors to keep contracts fair and reasonably priced. However, if the delays from this process would cause unnecessary harm, they are able to sign short-term agreements while the proper process is followed. The auditors wrote in their report that EOHLC should have been able to foresee the incoming stress on the system and prepared accordingly before emergency measures became necessary. 'This would have allowed for competition among vendors with improved pricing, terms and fairness,' the report says. 'Emergency contracting is designed to 'buy time' to conduct a fair, legitimate procurement process under normal procurement rules. This did not occur.' In addition, the auditors wrote, the emergency contracts lasted for too long, and should have gone for 'weeks, not several months.' One of the contracts at issue was with East Boston-based Spinelli Ravioli Manufacturing Co. for food delivery to hotels and motels being used as shelters that did not have culinary facilities. The other contract that the SAO deemed improper was with Mercedes Car Company, now known as Pilgrim Transit, which offered transportation to shelter residents for necessary travel to destinations such as medical appointments. The housing agency vehemently disagreed with these findings, with Secretary Ed Augustus writing in an official response letter that the analysis was 'fundamentally wrong and unfounded.' EOHLC signed two other emergency contracts in 2023, with Ascentria Community Services and the United Way of Massachusetts Bay; though the report mentioned these two contracts, it did not list any issues with them. One of the main concerns of the report was that EOHLC's procedures may have led to unnecessary costs, due to both a failure to search for cheaper options and simple administrative errors and oversight. For the food contract with Spinelli, the auditors wrote that the catering company had initially offered a payment option that would have been a flat fee for the services they would provide, but that EOHLC had not inquired further about what this flat fee would be. The agency also could have considered contracting with multiple food providers around the state to decrease delivery costs, rather than having all meals come from the East Boston facility, they wrote. Auditor analysts also took issue with the costs of the deal with Mercedes Car Company, comparing the trip fees to standard taxi rates listed on the Boston Police Department website. A taxi rider would pay $2.60 for the first one-seventh of a mile, then 40 cents per mile afterward. In contrast, trips with the car company had a base fee of $140 for the first person and $40 for each additional person, and $498 for the first person in a wheelchair van. 'The transportation service fees ... are considerably higher than the typical rates observed in the taxicab or ride-sharing industry. In fact, they align more closely with the pricing structures of executive car services,' the report says. In one instance, the state was billed $140 for a trip that lasted 223 feet within a single parking lot. They also noted that EOHLC could have worked with the MBTA or regional transit authorities to provide transportation at a lower cost. However, the report determined that it was impossible to know how much money the agency could have saved if it had not signed the emergency contracts, because EOHLC did not take the time to find out. In addition, the audit revealed that the state was overcharged for 9.6% of food deliveries from Spinelli, for a total overcharge of $4,136 (This was offset, however, by additional deliveries where the state was undercharged, for a net overcharge of $2,306). The overcharges were due to inadequate oversight of invoices the agency received, the auditors wrote. EOHLC disagreed with these findings, saying that the report left out relevant context. In particular, for the transportation contract, the agency said it needed very specialized services, but also encouraged shelter residents to use public transportation when and where possible. The transportation service needed to be available on demand with short notice, able to travel to locations not near public transit, and able to accommodate people with disabilities and families with small children requiring booster seats. Augustus noted that when EOHLC did solicit bids for competitive transportation contracts, they received no 'satisfactory' proposals. 'The lack of satisfactory bids received in response to our competitive procurement speaks volumes to the extremely unique and challenging nature of this service,' he wrote. As for the overcharges, he argued that with a nearly $10 million contract, the $2,306 in net overcharges was just 0.02% of the total. Nearly all of the report's findings dealt, directly or indirectly, with a lack of documentation for decisions EOHLC made when administering the emergency assistance program. For the emergency contracts, the agency did not sufficiently document how it made the decisions to hire those companies, the report said. EOHLC also did not have documentation of subcontractors that worked with some of their contracted service providers, and for some charges for various services that the auditors questioned, the agency could not provide documentation to verify them. 'Without proper records, EOHLC cannot verify whether services were provided according to contractual terms, nor can it ensure that payments were appropriate and aligned with the agreed-upon budgets,' the report says. 'It increases the risk of improper use of public funds and a lack of accountability for the services provided.' EOHLC acknowledged that it could have done more to keep up its documentation, and Augustus wrote that the agency was already 'committed' to updating its policies to do so in the future. EOHLC wrote in its official response to the report that it had already updated its invoice review process to increase oversight of payments to vendors, one of several changes the agency has made since the audit period. It has also clarified some of its policies on how funding is used and restructured its shelter diversion program to have unique contracts for a 'more streamlined process.' Beyond internal policies, however, Augustus said the state has made a number of changes to the shelter program, introducing a maximum number of families that can be served, new eligibility requirements and a cap on the length of time a family can stay in a shelter. This has resulted in fewer families staying in shelters and lower costs. Gov. Maura Healey announced the day before the audit report was released that all hotel and motel shelters would be closed by summer. As a result of these and other changes implemented by Healey, for the first time since July 2023, the number of families in shelters has fallen back below 5,000, Augustus wrote. 'These all represent significant progress toward establishing a Right to Shelter system for families where stays are rare, brief, and non-recurring, and costs are financially sustainable to the Commonwealth,' he added. DiZoglio's office will review EOHLC's progress in six months, according to the typical audit process, according to the report. Closing hotel shelters has benefits but could leave families with no place to go Audit: Mass. housing office mishandled emergency shelter contracts Broken brokers' fees: Mass. lawmakers try again for a fix | Bay State Briefing Springfield housing advocates praise new law that seals eviction records Read the original article on MassLive.
