If you own rental property in Massachusetts and you've filed a nonpayment eviction, there's a good chance you've run into RAFT. The tenant applies, the case stops, and you wait.
RAFT can get you paid. It can also add months to a case that was already slow. How it plays out depends mostly on how you handle it. Here's how the program works, how it affects an eviction, and what I recommend landlords do about it.
What RAFT is
RAFT stands for Residential Assistance for Families in Transition. It's the state's main emergency rental assistance program, funded through the annual state budget and run by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities through regional agencies.
The basics for fiscal year 2026:
• Income limit. The household must be at or below 50% of area median income (60% for households experiencing domestic violence).
• Housing crisis. The household must be at risk of losing housing. A notice to quit or a pending eviction case qualifies.
• Benefit cap. Up to $7,000 per household in any rolling 12-month period. That can be used for back rent, utilities, or moving costs, and can be paid out in more than one award, as long as the total stays under the cap.
• Subsidized tenants. For tenants with income-based subsidies (Section 8, public housing), RAFT can cover no more than six months of arrears in a rolling 12-month period, and only where there was good cause for not paying their share.
Applications go through the state's online Housing Help Hub. For RAFT to pay back rent to a landlord, the landlord has to complete its own part of the application: ownership documentation, a W-9, a rent ledger, and the notice to quit or court papers. If the landlord doesn't do its part, the application stalls.
How a RAFT application pauses an eviction
During the pandemic, the Legislature passed Chapter 257 of the Acts of 2020. It required courts to continue a nonpayment eviction case when the tenant had a pending rental assistance application, and it barred entry of judgment or issuance of an execution until the application was decided. That law expired in March 2023, but the Legislature brought it back in the fiscal 2024 budget, which Governor Healey signed in August 2023, and this time it was made permanent.
In practice, this means:
• It applies to nonpayment cases only. Cases based on lease violations or no-fault terminations aren't paused by a RAFT application.
• If the tenant shows a pending application, the court continues the case. No judgment enters and no execution issues while the application is pending.
• There's no fixed time limit on the pause. It lasts until the application is approved or denied.
• Once RAFT pays, the question becomes whether the payment resolves the arrears. Once RAFT denies, the case can move forward.
The practical effect: in a nonpayment case, the timeline is largely controlled by how fast the RAFT application gets finished and processed. Incomplete applications, missing documents on either side, and agency backlogs all add time.
The math: the cap vs. what's owed
This is where most landlords get frustrated. $7,000 is less than three months' rent for many apartments in greater Boston. By the time a nonpayment case is filed, heard, and continued for RAFT, the tenant may owe far more than that.
So a RAFT approval doesn't always end the case. Common outcomes:
• RAFT covers everything. Arrears are paid, the tenancy continues, and the case is dismissed. This works best when the landlord moves quickly and the arrears are still small.
• RAFT covers part. The tenant has to make up the difference through a payment plan, other assistance, or their own funds. This usually ends in an agreement for judgment with a payment schedule.
• RAFT is denied or the tenant doesn't finish
The longer a landlord waits to file, the more likely the arrears exceed the cap. That's one of the strongest arguments for acting early on nonpayment.
What landlords should do
Act early. Serve the notice to quit as soon as rent is meaningfully late. The notice itself qualifies the tenant for RAFT, and the smaller the balance, the more likely RAFT covers it. A nonpayment notice to quit must also include the state-required information about rental assistance.
Complete your side of the application right away. If the tenant has applied, the case is paused whether or not you cooperate. Dragging your feet only extends the pause. Keep your W-9, proof of ownership, and a clean rent ledger ready to upload.
Keep an accurate ledger. Separate rent from late fees, utilities, and other charges. RAFT pays rent arrears, and a messy ledger slows approval and invites disputes in court.
If you have a tenant behind on rent, or a case stuck waiting on RAFT, contact Sandonato Law at 617-481-2742.