Cambridge resident Skip Schloming, a member of the Small Property Owners Association (SPOA), describes the bill as one that would "stop extortion by tenants."

Schloming says that current law allows fraudulent tenants to live free for months, at the risk of bankrupting property owners.

The problems usually involve tenants who use code violation charges to evade rent, Schloming says.

"Tenants will get an eviction notice for not paying rent, and , instead of paying or leaving, they'll call the housing inspector," he says.

According to Schloming, these tenants cite small code violations--or even create their own--and landlords are required to fix them.

In the interim, he said, the tenants legally can without their rent.

"The worst case is that the tenant won't even let us or the repairmen in," Schloming says. "And when we finally fix whatever the problem is, another one appears."

"If you have a tenant living rent-free for six, eight, 10 months, it's devastating for a property owner," he adds.

SPOA is a 3,000-member statewide organization which was first formed in Cambridge to oppose rent control, ended by a statewide referendum in 1994. It now represents the interests of property owners who own to 20 rental units.

Convergent Interests

Schloming and other SPOA members argue that the interests of small property owners coincide with those of low-income tenants who do not fraudulently use code violations.

"Small property owners provide 75 percent of the rental housing in the Commonwealth," Schloming says. "And most of that at the affordable end of the market."

Richard C. Ferrington '52, a Cambridge landlord, is quick to point out that property owners do not view the battle of the bill as a war against tenants.

"Most people don't act this way," he says.

"If you didn't care about your tenants, you wouldn't provide good housing when rents weren't high enough to cover expenses--and I did it," Farrington says.