City Life/Vida Urbana

In late February, two days before she had to vacate her apartment, 73-year-old Margaret Nichols got a knock on her door. She’d been rushing to fill moving boxes and pack up her apartment of more than 20 years. After years of paying her climbing rent at the recently rebranded “SoMa at the T” complex in Mattapan, she’d spent nearly all her savings and had to give up.

Last Wednesday, members of the Grid Management Tenant Association came together in East Boston alongside housing rights activists from advocacy group City Life/Vida Urbana (CLVU) to rally against what they say are no fault evictions in their building.

The federal eviction moratorium expired on Saturday, July 31, and local activists are pushing for state legislation to extend protections for residents at risk of losing their housing.