Inside the 'Bad Landlords List' Ordinance: Points, Thresholds, Exemptions and a $2,000 Fine
All 13 Boston city councilors put their names on a proposal to publish a twice-yearly list of chronic code violators. The ordinance text shows how an owner would land on the list, who is exempt and what it would cost them.
A proposed Boston ordinance that would publish a list of the city's most persistent housing-code violators would rank rental property owners on a point system, set different thresholds depending on how many units an owner holds, exempt small owner-occupied buildings and publicly financed affordable housing, and bar listed owners from most business with the city, according to the full text filed with the City Council.
The ordinance, Docket 2026-1958, is titled "An Ordinance Establishing a 'Bad Landlords List' and Extending Rental Property Code Enforcement Against Chronic Offenders and Scofflaws." It was offered by Council President Liz Breadon and Councilor Brian Worrell, and the filed text lists every other member of the 13-seat council as a co-sponsor: Miniard Culpepper, Sharon Durkan, John FitzGerald, Ed Flynn, Ruthzee Louijeune, Julia Mejia, Erin Murphy, Enrique Pepén, Henry Santana and Benjamin Weber. At the council's Oct. 21 meeting, with Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata in the chair, it was referred to the Committee on Government Operations, according to the council's Legistar record.
Boston.com first reported the proposal on Oct. 22, quoting Breadon as saying, "Landlords will not want to be on that list." She told the outlet that a hearing would be scheduled in the coming weeks. The ordinance text itself contains a number of specific mechanics that determine how the list would work.
The core of the proposal is a new Section 9-1.3(H) of the City Code, titled "Scofflaw Owner Property List and Penalties." Under it, residential rental property owners who fail to register, or who fail to comply with notices of violation, warnings of noncompliance or municipal fines within the preceding 12 months, would be assessed points on their properties twice a year.
The ordinance sets the point values. A property on the city's Problem Properties List would draw four points. Failing to comply with an Inspectional Services Department notice of violation under the State Sanitary Code, the State Building Code or the Boston Zoning Code, where that failure leads the city to start enforcement proceedings, would draw two points per violation. Failing to make a good-faith effort to correct emergency violations that result in court enforcement would draw three points per violation. Each unregistered rental unit would draw one point. Unpaid municipal fines of more than $1,000 but not more than $10,000 would draw two points, and unpaid fines over $10,000 would draw four.
The threshold for being classified as a "Scofflaw Property Owner" would depend on portfolio size. Under Table 1 of the ordinance, an owner of 1 to 50 units would reach the list at six points in a 12-month period; an owner of 51 to 500 units at 10 points; and an owner of 501 or more units at 14 points. The Inspectional Services Department would notify owners of each point and of a scofflaw classification by mail, return receipt requested, and owners would have 14 days to request a hearing to appeal.
The list itself would be published on Feb. 1 and Aug. 1 of each year as an open dataset. According to the text, it would include the names of all scofflaw owners, the address of every rental property each one owns, information on the violations and fines received, and a description of the basis for inclusion. The list would also be transmitted to permitting agencies, including the mayor and the City Council.
Several categories of property would not count toward a scofflaw designation. The ordinance excludes units owned by federal, state or city government; units in buildings with six or fewer units where one unit is occupied by the owner; and units in buildings that received public financing for an affordable housing rehabilitation project within the past five years.
The penalties are broad. A listed owner would not be eligible to "do business with the City of Boston," which the ordinance defines to include being awarded a city contract; receiving a grant, loan or other financial assistance; or having an application accepted for an acquisition of city property, a lease, a property tax reclassification, a development project subject to Article 80 of the zoning code, a zoning map amendment or any other zoning relief. The text allows exceptions when a contracting department finds the city cannot get comparable goods or services elsewhere, or when public health and safety require it. Listed owners could still receive city financial help specifically to fix an outstanding code violation.
Listed owners would also face fines of $2,000, "or the maximum allowed," for each additional point received in a rolling 12-month period, and would be required to request an annual Inspectional Services inspection of each rental unit. An owner who keeps fewer than two points over a rolling year would come off the list on the next publication date at least 12 months after first being listed.
The ordinance would also rewrite the city's rental registration rule. Owners would have to register every unit with the Inspectional Services Department by July 1 each year and list the names and contact information of everyone with an ownership interest; corporate owners would have to name the beneficial owners who are the largest shareholders. Owners living outside Massachusetts would have to designate a Boston-based agent to accept legal service, and P.O. boxes would not satisfy the address requirement for the notice owners must post inside their buildings.
In its preamble, the filing cites Chicago's "Building Code Scofflaw List," which bars listed owners from business licenses, zoning variances, city land and building permits unrelated to their violations, and New York City's Worst Landlords Watchlist. Worrell said at Wednesday's meeting, according to Boston.com, that a bad actors list "creates the type of focus we need on landlords who consistently fail to maintain their properties."
The ordinance does not say how many Boston owners would meet the point thresholds under current enforcement data, and no estimate was attached to the filing. As of Friday morning, the council's online records showed no hearing date. The measure would need committee action and a council vote, and would then go to Mayor Michelle Wu, before it could take effect.
