SJC rules on standing to evict

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A property manager could not bring a summary process action in Housing Court in the name of his sole proprietorship to evict a tenant from rental property for which the plaintiff was neither the owner nor the lessor, the Supreme Judicial Court has ruled.

“We hold that [Fred] Basile had no standing to bring a summary process action in his name, where he was not the owner or lessor of the property,” Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants wrote for the court.

“We also hold that, to the extent that he was acting on behalf of the true owner of the property when he filed the complaint, his conduct constituted the unauthorized practice of law because he was not an attorney,” Gants added.

“[W]here a plaintiff seeks to evict a tenant without the standing to do so, or where a person who is not authorized to practice law signs and files a summary process complaint — and where that conduct is not inadvertent but by design, or part of a pattern or practice — we hold that a court has the inherent authority, in the exercise of its sound discretion, to impose appropriate sanctions, including attorney’s fees and other costs, in order to ensure the fair administration of justice and to deter such conduct in the future,” Gants stated.

The 27-page decision is Rental Property Management Services, et al. v. Hatcher, Lawyers Weekly No. 10-081-18.

Click here to read the full text of the opinion.