One of the lowest-cost housing options for women in Boston will remain that way following an agreement secured with the state attorney general’s office.
The Our Lady Guild House, a single-occupancy rooming building on Charlesgate West, lists its smallest room, a 10-by-11 footer, at $810 and its largest, a 12-by-14, at $950 — Boston steals, especially at easy walking distance to several arts and parks, including Fenway.
The property is owned by the Daughters of Mary of the Immaculate Conception, though state’s filing lists a separate entity named for the building since 1981, and has its building open for residency by about 130 “women of all faiths and national origins” — but the Attorney General’s office said a sale is pending that could could have put the affordability of this housing in jeopardy.
On Wednesday, the AG’s office announced that it had secured a deal with the owners and management of the House that provides “protections against evictions and rent increases while the sale of the building is pending,” settles allegations of age and disability discrimination against long-term tenants and secured a $115,000 penalty payment that will be mainly distributed to seven long-term residents of the House.
“Our elders and residents living with disabilities deserve more than just our respect. We owe them an opportunity to live long and healthy lives, free from discrimination and the fear of being pushed out of their homes,” AG Andrea Campbell said in a statement. “This settlement provides stability and safety for the women who have called Our Lady’s Guild House home for years, and our office will continue to protect access to affordable housing across the Commonwealth.”
The agreement tosses out pending eviction claims, keeps the building affordable housing “in perpetuity” and allows six of the long-term residents to stay and subject only to “limited rent increases.”
Residents first filed complaints in 2018 when the House’s management “brought no fault eviction proceedings to rid the building of long-term tenants in violation of fair housing laws,” according to a statement from Margaret Turner, the senior attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services.
At that time, residents told the Herald that the management of the building had changed in 2012 and that it began catering toward college students, with the elderly being pushed out.
“There’s been a shift in values it was founded on,” resident Judy Burnette, who had lived in the building for a decade, told the Herald then.
“Ever since new management, we’re being charged an arm and a leg. This is not just a room, it’s our home,” she continued. “The women that live here, we’re a community. So many ladies here would pool money to buy groceries and share the food. If they do push us out, many of us will be homeless.”
