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Healey’s mind made up on rent control: ‘I’m a no’
Gov. Maura T. Healey is taking a victory lap for helping get rid of renter-paid broker's fees, but the governor is against a potential 2026 ballot question that would put a hard cap on annual rent increases.
Landlord and tenant – Chapter 93A – Counterclaim
Where plaintiff tenants who brought suit under G.L.c. 93A have moved to dismiss the defendants’ counterclaim, which alleges that the tenants breached their lease by failing to pay an outstanding balance at the end of the lease term, the motion to dismiss should be denied because the counterclaim shares a common nucleus of operative fact with the original complaint, which is sufficient to confer [...]
Lease prohibiting pledge of liquor license as collateral upheld
A contractual provision prohibiting the pledge of a liquor license as collateral for a loan is neither prohibited by G.L.c. 138, §23, nor "manifestly injurious to the public interest and welfare" in violation of public policy, the Supreme Judicial Court has ruled.
Landlord and tenant – Liquor license – Collateral
Where an issue has been raised regarding whether a contractual provision prohibiting the pledge of a license to serve alcoholic beverages as collateral for a loan violates public policy, the anti-pledge provision is enforceable because it is neither prohibited by G.L.c. 138, §23, nor “manifestly injurious to the public interest and welfare” in violation of public policy.
Landlord and tenant – Abuse of process
Where a Housing Court order dismissing a plaintiff landlord’s summary process complaint barred the defendant tenant from bringing a future action against the landlord for abuse of process, treating the dismissal of the landlord's complaint to bar a future abuse of process claim by the tenant was unwarranted, so the order must be vacated in part.
Landlord and tenant – Retaliation – Manufactured housing
Where the commonwealth has alleged that the defendants, having purchased a manufactured housing community, increased monthly rent in violation of the Manufactured Housing Act, the defendants should be preliminarily enjoined from charging residents over $385 per month during the pendency of the action and from commencing or maintaining any summary process proceeding for a resident’s failure to pa[...]
Civil practice – Service of process
Where a commercial tenant has filed an appeal challenging the denial of its motion for relief from judgment and motion to dismiss the landlord’s summary process complaint, both motions should have been allowed because the landlord did not fulfill its service obligations pursuant to Rule 4(d)(2) of the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure.
Landlord and tenant – Commercial lease – Damages
Where a commercial tenant was awarded damages in the amount of $12,850, the damages award must be vacated “as a windfall for a tenant who never paid the rent in question.”
Landlord and tenant – Security deposit – Wear and tear
Where plaintiff tenants have brought suit over a “move-out addendum” to their leases that has been found by the Supreme Judicial Court to violate G.L.c. 186, §15B(4), the defendants are entitled to summary judgment because the plaintiffs have failed to show that the defendants attempted to enforce the addendum.
Trial Court issues notice on summary process summonses and complaints
Effective immediately, all summonses and complaints in summary process cases regarding nonpayment of rent must include a statement confirming that the plaintiff “has not received notice that the defendant is an impacted federal worker” and “that the defendant is not an impacted federal worker,” the Trial Court said on Nov. 26.
New limits for a rent algorithm that prosecutors say let landlords drive up prices
Landlords could no longer rely on rent-pricing software to quietly track each other’s moves and push rents higher using confidential data under a settlement between RealPage Inc. and federal prosecutors to end what critics said was illegal “algorithmic collusion.”
Landlord and tenant – Claim preclusion – MCAD dismissal
Where a Housing Court judge dismissed a tenant’s complaint on the basis of claim preclusion, that was error, as the tenant’s action is not precluded merely because the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination previously dismissed her complaint alleging the same underlying facts.
Verdicts & Settlements
- Injury during baby’s adenoidectomy leads to stroke
- Construction worker’s hand caught in cement mixer
- Worker trapped in freezer, dies during steam cleaning
- Pedestrian, 69, hit by motor vehicle while in crosswalk
- Four-vehicle pileup leaves driver with spinal cord injury
- Nursing home staff blamed for kidney-failure death
- Pharmacy’s late delivery blamed for patient’s death
- Man, 25, drowns after swimming lesson at fitness club
Opinion Digests
- Jurisdiction – Forum selection clause – Non-signatory
- Criminal – Responsibility
- Attorneys – Lien
- Landlord and tenant – Default judgment
- Zoning – Constructive grant – Comprehensive permit
- Fraud – False Claims Act – Settlement share
- Civil practice – Discovery – Cybersecurity
