WORCESTER — With funding provided by the state Office of the Attorney General, Community Legal Aid has launched the Central and Western Mass. Eviction Sealing Project, which will expand its work sealing court eviction records.
Through this project, staff in Community Legal Aid’s Housing Unit will assist tenants by filing sealing petitions on their behalf, representing them at eviction sealing hearings, organizing sealing clinics with community partners, and conducting outreach and “Know-Your-Rights” trainings to tenants and community partners.
Additionally, the Sealing Project will collaborate with Community Legal Aid’s CORI/Reentry Unit, which focuses on helping people with criminal records overcome barriers to housing, employment and other opportunities, to host joint sealing clinics.
The project’s staff will hold at least one clinic per month, for a total of at least 12 clinics throughout the five counties over the course of a year. A Massachusetts law, Mass. Gen. Laws chapter 239 section 16, that took effect on May 5, 2025, allows tenants to petition the court to seal certain eviction cases on their court record.
“Prior to this law, eviction cases have remained on people’s records, even if tenants did nothing to warrant the filing of the case, or if the case was settled or dismissed by a judge,” said Blair Komar Bates, the senior supervising attorney for CLA’s Housing Unit in Worcester County.
“Since landlords, employers, and credit agencies can view people’s court records online, these eviction histories have become major barriers for people trying to secure jobs, loans, and housing,” Komar Bates said. “These records are especially detrimental amid Massachusetts’ housing crisis and rising rates of homelessness.”
Community Legal Aid’s Eviction Sealing Project aims to help tenants in central and western Massachusetts vindicate their rights under this law. The statute is complex and at times requires tenants to take additional steps before their cases are eligible for sealing. Tenants can learn more about eviction sealing at SealMyEviction.org.
