Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Affordable Housing Insurance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Lawmakers seek study of rising property insurance costs for affordable housing
Summary
Senators and representatives requested a special commission to study sharp increases in property insurance premiums affecting affordable housing and recommend policy solutions, citing New York—s 2024 law as a model to review.
Senator John Keenan and Representative Steven Owens asked the Joint Committee on Financial Services to report favorably on legislation (S.768 / H.1279) that would create a special commission to study rising property insurance costs for affordable housing. "Premiums and deductibles for policies required by mortgage lenders and governmental agencies have shot up two to threefold over the last five or more years," Keenan said, citing a Nixon Peabody summary.
Why it matters: Committee sponsors said rising insurance costs are squeezing operating budgets of affordable housing providers, reducing funds available for maintenance and new development. "Affordable housing providers are disproportionately impacted," Owens said. He told the committee that one industry survey found a third of affordable housing policies experienced rate increases of 25% or more in 2023.
What sponsors asked for: The resolve would form a commission to examine root causes, gather expertise from stakeholders (housing authorities, community development corporations, nonprofit developers), and recommend legislation. Keenan and Owens described the group as study-only at this stage: "Just a commission, just to study, just to make recommendations," Owens said.
Stakeholder views reported at the hearing: Matt Noyes of the CitizensHousing and Planning Association (CHAPA) and Patrick Treiber of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association described the problem in different terms. Noyes said community development corporations report insurance rate increases that threaten operations and cited New York—s February 2024 law that barred insurers from using questions about affordability in underwriting as a precedent to study. Treiber, speaking for the industry, emphasized insurers— role in covering risk and noted the need to consider market and statutory interactions in any policy response.
Limits and next steps: Sponsors repeatedly asked the committee for a favorable report so the commission could study tradeoffs; no legislative changes were enacted at the hearing and no committee action (beyond testimony) was recorded.
Ending note: Witnesses told the committee the problem is widespread in Massachusetts and other states; sponsors framed the commission as a means to gather data and propose measured legislative fixes rather than immediate regulatory mandates.
