Residents at "SoMa At The T" apartment complex in Mattapan hold rally over rising rent
MATTAPAN -- Tensions are boiling over at the "So<a At The T" apartment complex in Mattapan, where tenants are facing the reality of rising rents or eviction notices.
Residents held a rally Saturday to push back against increasing rents they claim are forcing people out.
72-year-old Annie Gordon has lived at the property for 48 years and only recently started to notice her yearly rent increases were becoming out of reach.
Gordon says the complex was purchased by The DSF Group in 2019, around the same time a new MBTA Commuter Rail stop was added just across the street.
"They started raising the rents," Gordon said. "A lot of people did move out, but I decided after 48 years, I have been here that long, that I don't want to leave. This is my home. I raised my son here, so I don't want to leave a community that I love and have been in for a long time."
Gordon said her rent hovered around $1,800 in 2019 with yearly increases coming out to around $60 per month. But this year, Gordon claims her rent was increased by nearly $300 per month. It has caused her to step out of retirement and into a job at a local Walmart. Gordon said others around her are seeing even higher spikes in monthly rents.
Betty Lewis, 71, said her rent went up by $450 and is now forcing her out of her apartment she has lived in for 40 years. She was on the picket line Saturday.
"It is worth it for me because I am fighting to stay in my home and for other people to stay in their home," Lewis said.
Both women said they have fallen behind on payments and face the prospect of eviction.
WBZ-TV reached out to The DSF Group for this report and have not heard back.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu sent a statement in response to our report that read:
"When residents are pushed out of their homes due to dramatic rent hikes, our entire community bears the costs of instability—in our schools, businesses, and neighborhoods. This is exactly the kind of displacement that our proposal would protect against, with provisions for reasonable guardrails against rent gouging and for just cause eviction."