When Lisa Almeida began struggling to get enough hours at work in 2019, she began to fall behind on her rent.

The single mom of two, a visiting nurse, was already living in an income-restricted affordable apartment in Somerville that she had won through a competitive lottery five years before. But soon, she began to struggle to pay even the below-market-rate rent, and her landlord, AvalonBay Communities, filed to evict her.

With help from family and friends, Almeida was able to scrounge up the money to catch up on payments, and the eviction case was dismissed. But when the next month’s rent came due, she was surprised to see an additional line item on the bill: $150 for “Legal Costs/Evictions.”

Thus began a cycle where Almeida, trying to pay what she owed, would once again fall behind a

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