Client Alert: SJC Rules Rent Control Ballot Initiative Unconstitutional

Short summary

Massachusetts's Supreme Judicial Court ruled a statewide rent control ballot initiative unconstitutional because it carves out an exception for religious facilities, violating the state constitution's ban on religion-related ballot measures. The ruling kills the rent control proposal for the November 2026 election and any comparable policy in the foreseeable future.

• •SJC struck down rent control ballot initiative as unconstitutional due to religious facility exemption
• •Article 48 of Massachusetts Constitution prohibits ballot measures relating to religion
• •Initiative is effectively dead; no clear path for future rent control ballot in Massachusetts

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