Eviction of 4 families Echo Village in Amherst temporarily overturned by Housing Court judge

Springfield Republican

By Diane Lederman

 

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

 

AMHERST – Two Echo Hill Village families will be able to remain in their homes for at least a few more months, after Housing Court Judge Robert Fields dismissed their eviction because the landlord did not properly terminate the tenancy.

 

The ruling issued last week affected four families. However, two of those families already moved, said Jennifer Dieringer, a lawyer with Community Legal Aid in Northampton who is representing them.

 

Two more cases involving two other families are pending, she said.

 

James Cherewatti of Eagle Crest Property purchased Echo Village in January for $3 million, and in early February he issued the eviction notices.

 

Fields, however, dismissed the eviction notices because two weeks after Cherewatti issued them notices that he wanted to raise the rents, he signed a contract with the Amherst Housing Authority for the four units so that the authority could continue paying the portion of the rent through the Section 8 vouchers the tenants held.

 

That contract expires Sept 31.

 

The ruling “buys some time to work with the housing authority,” Dieringer said. She said the tenants could also continue trying to work with the landlord. The landlord could raise rents after Sept. 31 and present them to the housing authority. But if they are too high and exceed the federal limits, the authority would not be able to pay them.

 

If he decides to try eviction again, he would have to follow proper eviction proceedings, she said, which would also provide time for the tenants. Cherewatti could not be reached for comment.

 

If Cherewatti moves ahead to evict the tenants again, her office would continue representing the tenants, she said.

 

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development caps rent based on the Springfield metropolitan market. Rents are much higher in Amherst. With a voucher, a tenant initally pays rent up to 40 percent of income with the federal government paying the rest.

 

Currently, while HUD caps rents at $935 for a two bedroom and $1,167 for a three bedroom, the Amhest Housing Authority applied for a payment exception which allows for $1,122 for a two-bedroom, $1,400 for a three-bedroom and $1,596 for a four-bedroom. Cherewatti notified TracyLee Boutilier, one of the parties allowed to remain in her home, that he plans to raise rents on three-bedroom units to $1,850.

 

The tenants asked Town Meeting in the spring to buy the apartments or put them under an affordability restriction, including by eminent domain, for low-income housing. But the article was referred to the Housing and Sheltering Committee.

 

Bonnie MacCracken, a housing advocate, has said there is great concern about losing these units because the town is losing affordable units at the nearby Rolling Green complex as Equity Resident repays grants it received from MassHousing for construction and renovations at the complex.

 

“We are very happy” with the ruling, Dieringer said.

 

Boutilier, a representative of the Echo Village Tenant’s Association, has said tenants want to stay in the building because of its diversity and the building is diverse and good for families. And she said, it’s not easy to find affordable housing in the town in which students live, driving up the market rents.

 

“This decision is an important step in the process,” Boutilier said. She said the ruling comes at an appropriate time, on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and Martin Luther King’s “I have a Dream Speech.”

 

“Overall what we’re trying to do is preserve a local example of what a truly integrated community looks us. The decision has reenergized us.” 

 

At one point, 19 families were affected, she said. 

 

Meris L. Bergquist, executive director of the Massachusetts Fair Housing Center in Holyoke, said earlier that Echo Village is “one of a few successful models (of) an integrated community. There are so few. It’s very important to preserve it,” she said.

 

Town Manager John P. Musante said he and housing advocates and Cherewatti are looking at “what may be possible” to help tenants here. He said Cherewatti is actively cooperating with the town. ▪