A 76-year-old Dorchester homeowner says the downstairs tenant from her worst nightmare turned her house into a place she barely recognized, and that for more than a year she felt effectively trapped inside her own home. She describes a first-floor renter who stopped paying, fired off repeated complaints to city inspectors and allegedly left the unit in shambles. The landlord says the ordeal meant sleepless nights, spiraling repair bills and dozens of trips to housing court before movers finally hauled the tenant’s belongings out earlier this month. Her family says the drawn-out fight cost her not only money but also her health as she pushed for any kind of resolution.
According to reporting by NBC10 Boston, the tenant, identified as Kenyatta Saunders, moved into the first-floor unit in December 2024 and was enrolled in the state HomeBASE rental-assistance program. NBC10’s review of housing-court records and interviews found that the program initially covered most of the $2,700 monthly rent, then gradually tapered its contribution down to a much smaller payment, and ultimately stopped sending money altogether. That left the homeowner without rent coming in while repair and legal bills piled up. The station also reported that a Boston Fire Department record tied to a separate Saunders eviction found the source of a kitchen fire was intentional.
An early attempt to evict Saunders fell apart when a judge dismissed the case on a technicality, ruling that an adult daughter living in the unit had not been listed as a defendant. The homeowner, Jackson, says that procedural misstep felt like a punch to the gut after months of stress. In courtroom audio obtained by NBC10 Boston, Jackson breaks down in front of the judge and pleads, “I can’t take it. I need this lady to go. I need her to get out of my house.”
How HomeBASE Factored Into The Fight
HomeBASE is a state program that helps families secure housing by covering upfront costs and offering time-limited rental assistance while families stabilize, and the exact split between tenant payments and program payments depends on the tenant’s income. Per Mass.gov, HomeBASE can provide substantial one-time help along with monthly support. Landlords, however, must complete their portion of the application and, as this case underscores, can be left exposed if those public payments are paused or stopped.
Where This Fits In A Crowded Housing Market
Landlords and policy observers say stories like this are playing out against a backdrop of tight housing supply, high rents and mounting pressure on both tenants and small property owners. The Boston Foundation’s Greater Boston Housing Report Card points to widening affordability gaps and persistent supply shortfalls that raise the stakes on eviction fights and tenant screening for both sides. Advocates say those structural pressures can turn an individual dispute into a long and costly legal brawl, especially when neither party has much of a financial cushion.
Legal Fallout And Next Steps
The homeowner eventually obtained a restraining order and pursued summary process in housing court, yet technical errors, delayed hearings and last-minute filings stretched the timeline far beyond what she expected. The Eastern Housing Court handles eviction and other summary-process matters and, per Mass.gov, provides resources for both landlords and tenants on filings, hearings and available remedies. Recovering money for unpaid rent and property damage may require separate civil claims, and legal advocates note that older homeowners without steady income face particular strain when enforcement drags on for months or longer.
For now, the landlord says she is staring down a long list of repairs and an estimated $80,000 in combined lost rent, legal fees and remediation costs, and she is focused on putting the house back in order after the eviction. Neighbors and local constables who helped on moving day described the condition of the unit as extreme and warned that the same tenant could surface again in another landlord’s case, a worry that other owners say is familiar in a system where repeat litigants can exploit procedural protections while avoiding payment.
