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Legal‑aid groups and tenant advocates ask lawmakers to boost access‑to‑counsel funding to avert evictions
Summary
Massachusetts legal‑aid organizations told the committee that an FY25 start to a state access‑to‑counsel line item has begun operations but needs $5 million to sustain and expand representation in landlord‑tenant cases. Advocates cited stark representation imbalances in eviction courts and urged the Legislature to expand the program in FY26.
Legal‑aid organizations and housing advocates requested a larger, sustained state commitment to the recently launched Access to Counsel program, saying early FY25 funding allowed services to begin but that $5 million in FY26 is needed to preserve and expand representation for tenants.
Annette Duke of the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, representing the Access to Counsel Coalition, told the committee that the FY25 line item of $2.5 million launched infrastructure and legal representation through MassLegal Assistance Corporation and local legal services providers. “At the onset,” she said, teams have begun intake, training, outreach and representation, but roughly 90% of landlords are represented in eviction cases compared with roughly 4% of tenants and that disparity persists.
The coalition requested a $2.5 million increase (total $5 million) for FY26 to sustain current caseloads, expand outreach into public housing and increase data collection and reporting. Lawmakers asked for client‑level outcome data, program scalability assessments and draft language to ensure funds reach areas with high eviction risk.
Ending: Advocates framed the proposal as preventive and cost‑effective, saying tenant representation reduces homelessness, lowers shelter costs, and can resolve cases more efficiently than leaving defendants unrepresented.
