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Worcester committee hears data showing 1,200 eviction filings, near-total lack of tenant counsel; providers warn shelter limits could worsen crisis
Summary
City committee reviewed eviction and homelessness data from Central Mass. Housing Alliance and providers, heard pleas from a resident and shelter operators, and discussed access-to-counsel limits, rental data gaps and a proposed biannual snapshot of eviction-related data.
A City of Worcester committee on public health and human services heard data Tuesday showing more than 1,200 eviction cases filed in the last 12 months for Worcester addresses and that nearly all defendants in those cases appear in court without legal representation.
The committee’s update, delivered by Jack Moran of the Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance, also said the typical rental listed in the market is roughly $2,200 a month, countywide there are about 120,000 rental units with nearly 60,000 renters considered cost-burdened (paying more than 30 percent of income for rent), and the local homelessness system reported 142 people using the triage center and 120 unsheltered individuals the prior night.
Those figures come amid other indicators Moran presented: the average episode length for people using emergency shelter reached about 212 days this year and the rate of exits to permanent housing was about 24 percent for the year, the committee heard.
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