‘You really don’t have to try that hard’: 12-time evictee gets rental assistance

Topline: A Massachusetts man who had already been evicted from 12 apartments for refusing to pay rent received $23,000 in taxpayer-funded rental assistance in 2024, according to reporting from NBC10 Boston.

The outcome was incredibly predictable: the man and his wife skipped out on rent once again and fended off an eviction by slow-walking the court proceedings. They finally left their apartment on Nov. 19 of this year, leaving a hole in the wall and dirty dishes all over the floor, NBC reported.

Key facts: Bryan Coombes and his wife, Nicole Inserra, moved into their Burlington, Mass., apartment in December 2023 and received rental assistance under the state’s HomeBASE program, which helps families living below 115% of the poverty level.

The program required them to spend at least 30% of their own income on rent, which the couple refused to do, according to NBC10.

They were kicked off government assistance but refused to leave the property, using their experience as what NBC10 called “professional tenants” to exploit legal loopholes and delay eviction. Coombes represented himself in court and told the town’s board of health that his landlord left the apartment in disrepair. When contractors showed up to fix the apartment, Coombes refused to let them inside, NBC10 reported.

Coombes then submitted multiple appeals opposing the eviction and even tried filing for bankruptcy, dragging out the housing trial for more than a year. The lost rent, legal fees and more will cost the landlord over $100,000, his attorney Robert Lee told NBC10.

“While everyone describes Massachusetts as tenant-friendly, I’ve come to the phrase that it’s ‘landlord impossible,’” Lee told NBC. “You really don’t have to try that hard to stay in a place without paying money.”

Court records show Coombes has practice with this sort of case. Before this year, he had already been booted from 12 apartments, and he and his wife had unsuccessfully filed for bankruptcy nine times to delay the evictions, according to NBC10. One former landlord claimed Coombes holds a Ph.D.

The couple received $13,000 in rental assistance in 2021 while refusing to pay their share of rent for a house in Reading, Mass.

NBC10 asked Massachusetts’ Executive Office of Housing & Livable Communities whether it checks eviction histories before approving rental assistance applications, but the agency did not respond.

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Supporting quote: Coombes spoke with NBC10 following his housing trial and took issue with their characterization of him as a “professional tenant.”

“That’s not true. I use the law, and the law helps me do what I need to do,” Coombes said. “I don’t avoid paying rent. I use the law to my advantage when people don’t fix things that are supposed to fix things.”

Summary: As the country struggles with housing affordability, states and cities must take care to withhold rental assistance from those who have already spent years abusing it.

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