Eviction Sealing Information Session at the Pittsfield Athenaeum

11:00AM / Tuesday, December 02, 2025Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Community Legal Aid will be holding an information session on Eviction Sealing to help eligible residents of Berkshire County learn how to seal their eviction records.

Community Legal Aid is a non-profit organization that provides free legal services annually to over 700 low- income and elderly residents of Berkshire County.

The information session will be led by Community Legal Aid Housing Law Attorney Angelina Morisi and is open to the public. It will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025 from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m., at the Berkshire Athenaeum, located at 1 Wendell Ave., in the Athenaeum Room.

As rental prices soar in Massachusetts, tenants with eviction cases on their records are finding it more difficult to secure affordable housing. A new Massachusetts law, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 239 s. 16, that took effect on May 5, 2025, allows certain eligible tenants to petition the Court to seal their eviction record.

Tenants may submit a petition to seal their evictions online, in person at the courthouse, or by mail. Not all cases are sealable. Examples of some of the types of cases that may be eligible to be sealed are: when a tenant has won their eviction case (judgment in favor of the tenant); when a tenant was not at fault for the eviction (no-fault eviction); non- payment of rent cases where the tenant has paid the amount owed; and non-payment of rent cases that are at least four years old where the tenant did not pay the amount owed because of a financial hardship. The information session will cover these topics and answer questions about the new law. Tenants can also find out more about eviction sealing at SealMyEviction.org.

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15 People Displaced in Pittsfield Home Fires

Staff Reports11:35AM / Sunday, October 11, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Fifteen people were displaced after 2-alarm home fires this weekend on Springside Avenue and Elaine Drive.

On Friday evening, the Fire Department responded to a structure fire at 209 Springside Ave., which took a four-hour battle to extinguish and resulted in a partial roof collapse. The next day, on Saturday evening, crews knocked down a fire at 121 Elaine Drive in about an hour.

The garage and part of the single-family home on Elaine Drive were gutted to the frame, along with a vehicle parked in the driveway. On Springside Avenue, the top level and porch of the multifamily were burned through.

A GoFundMe has been started for the family of the Elaine Drive home, which includes several young children. The fundraiser, with a $5,500 goal, explains they lost their home and all of their belongings. (iBerkshires.com does not confirm or endorse fundraisers; they are provided as information only.)

There were no civilian or firefighter injuries, and both incidents are under investigation. One dog was rescued on Springside Avenue.

On Oct. 10, around 6:15 p.m., PFD responded to the Springside Avenue home for a reported structure fire and saw a 2 1/2-story wood frame multifamily with a heavy blaze showing from the second-floor front porch, extending out.

The building suffered a partial roof collapse, which prolonged extinguishment. The fire was brought under control after about four hours.

“An aggressive offensive attack was mounted by first arriving crews stretching hose lines into the building as well as primary searches that proved negative. Ladders were placed around the structure to provide access as well as escape if needed. An off-duty Fire Captain had also been on scene early in the incident to help evacuate the structure and rescue a dog,” PFD wrote in a press release.

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