Landlord and tenant – TRO

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Where a plaintiff tenant has requested a temporary restraining order against the defendant landlord, the request must be denied given the ongoing dispute between the parties in District Court.

“The plaintiff’s current efforts appear to be a rather transparent effort to ‘forum shop.’ She has sought the same relief from the Cambridge District Court at least three times. And three times she did not prevail. The Court is reluctant to wade into a matter that appears to have been adequately addressed by another court. If errors of law occurred in the district court proceeding, the appellate division is the proper forum for relief. Finally, it appears that the matters raised by the plaintiff are moot: she has vacated the premises and her personal belongings have been removed. Instead, she presently claims that her purpose in proceeding, despite the present obvious mootness of the issues, is because she ‘wishes to make a record.’

“Accordingly, after considering the plaintiff’s complaint and a full hearing with the parties, I find that there is no likelihood of success on the merits, and therefore, decline to enter the relief requested.”

Seif v. Equity Residential Properties (Lawyers Weekly No. 12-063-12) (2 pages) (Curran, J.) (Middlesex Superior Court) (Docket No. 12-CV-0085-F) (Jan. 24, 2012).