Chapter 186 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 11A the following section:-

Section 11B. (a) Upon the initiation of any court proceeding in which ultimate relief would entitle the tenant to not pay rent, the tenant shall deposit their normal, timely rent payments into the landlord’s escrow account that holds the tenant’s security deposit until a final judgment from the court is determined. If there is no existing escrow account the landlord shall open one, into which said deposits shall be made until a final judgment from the court is determined. The landlord shall provide the tenant all information needed for the tenant to deposit said rent payments into said escrow account.

(b) If the tenant fails to make the deposits required in subsection (a), the landlord may initiate an eviction proceeding and, after the required fourteen-day notice period has expired, may hire a sheriff or constable to move the tenant’s belongings out of the dwelling and into storage. Said storage shall be paid for by the tenant.

(c) If the pending case is resolved in favor of the landlord, the money in the escrow account shall be released to the landlord; if the case is resolved in favor of the tenant, the money in the escrow account shall be returned to the tenant. All interest accumulated from rent payments in the escrow account shall be payable to the tenant.