Rent Control Ballot Question Challenged in Court

In February, Housing for Massachusetts, the ballot committee created to defeat the rent control ballot question, worked with four small property owners to file a challenge to the Rent Control Ballot Question's validity before the Supreme Judicial Court. Yesterday, the full complaint was filed.

It is critical to understand that Massachusetts has one of the most structured and constitutionally constrained ballot question processes in the country. The process follows a strict path with strict timelines. A question can only be challenged in the Courts on the Constitutional issue of whether it can be placed on the ballot and in what form, according to Article 48 of the state constitution. 

The complaint touches on the constitutional issues of excluded subjects, relatedness, and fairness in the question summary that will appear on the ballot: those are the only possible challenges to a ballot question. In short, the complaint argues that this question cannot be placed in front of voters because:

• First, it violates Article 48’s ban on measures relating to religion because the question exempts “dwelling units in facilities operated solely…for…religious…purposes;”

• Second, it is “inconsistent with…the right to receive compensation for private property appropriated for public use” because it would:

• Eliminate the statutory right of rental property owners under Chapter 40P of the General Laws to receive market rate compensation for renting property to the public;
• Eliminate the constitutionally mandated “fair net operating income” floor that Massachusetts law has guaranteed rental property owners since at least 1970; and
• Effect a regulatory taking by imposing a “catastrophic economic impact on property owners whose reasonable investment-backed expectations have been built on over fifty years of statutory guarantees;”

• Third, it violates Article 48’s related subjects requirement by including both long-term residential tenancies and short-term rentals, which are governed by different state-local regulatory frameworks; and

• Fourth, its summary is not “fair” within the meaning of Article 48 because it does not inform voters that the question would repeal an existing law prohibiting rent control and replace it with its opposite.

This poorly written, poorly thought-out question would not only inflict lasting damage on housing in the Commonwealth, but is potentially unconstitutional and should not be placed before the voters in this or any similar form. Arguments are expected in early May, with the Court issuing its determination of whether or not this Ballot Question can advance in June.

NAIOP is committed to defeating this measure, and your continued engagement and support are critical to our success.

In December 2025, NAIOP joined other real estate groups in officially establishing Housing for Massachusetts as the official committee registered with the Office of Campaign & Political Finance to oppose the rent control ballot question.

The NAIOP team encourages you to share the Housing for Massachusetts website with your networks to help raise awareness about the devastating effects this measure would have on our housing supply, our communities, and our economy. Make no mistake, this ballot question will impact everyone in Massachusetts, and it is essential that all voters understand how it will affect them. To sign up for updates from the campaign, please click here.