Massachusetts Housing Court warns new eviction-sealing law and backlog are straining court resources

Chief Justice Diana Horan of the Massachusetts Housing Court told the Joint Committee on Housing on the Cape that the court is implementing an eviction‑sealing law while operating with what she described as too few judges and mounting case complexity.

Horan told the committee the Housing Court handles a broad range of housing matters and “travel[s] to 28 locations on a weekly basis,” and that changes enacted in recent years have increased both the time judges must spend on cases and the court’s administrative burden. She said the new sealing statute requires the court to block most case records from public view after petitions are allowed and that court staff and outside partners have helped the rollout run smoothly so far.

The sealing law, Horan said, “provides that upon the allowance of a petition, all records of the case must be sealed, which in essence means blocked from view for anyone who is not a party.” She told the committee…