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Ballot question volume creating unease among top officials
Top Beacon Hill Democrats raised concerns on Nov. 24 about special interest groups that are pushing potential voter referendums to bypass the traditional legislative process, and criticized a popular initiative petition to bring back rent control.
Ballot questions on rent control, income tax clear signature hurdle
Several Massachusetts ballot petitions — including on rent control, tax cuts, voter registration, and zoning reforms — clear key signature thresholds for the 2026 ballot.
Landlord and tenant – Termination rights – SNDA
Where (1) a plaintiff landlord and a defendant tenant entered into a lease and a separate service agreement, both of which contained a provision outlining special termination rights for the tenant, (2) weeks later, the landlord, the tenant and a bank entered into a subrogation and non-disturbance agreement (SNDA) in connection with the facility, and (3) after almost five years of operations, the t[...]
Amendments proposed to Uniform Summary Process Rules
The Trial Court is seeking comments on proposed amendments to Trial Court Rule I: Uniform Summary Process Rules.
Record number of measures remain in play for 2026 ballot
Proposals to slash the state income tax, reverse a decades-old ban on rent control, and force the Legislature and governor to open their records took another step toward the 2026 ballot on Sept. 3.
Landlord and tenant – RAFT funding – Moving fee
Where an appeal has been filed by the defendant tenants in a summary process action, the judgment should be (1) corrected to reflect the landlord's receipt of the $3,240 in Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) funding and (2) reversed to the extent that it required the tenants to pay a $500 moving fee.
Landlord and tenant – Manufactured housing – Sewer expenses
Where the Chicopee Mobile Home Rent Control Board approved a manufactured housing park’s substantial across-the-board increase in rent charges because the park was required to connect its tenants to the Chicopee public sewer system, a remand is necessary for further evaluation of whether a betterment charge for the city's new pumping station constitutes a “reasonable operating expense” under[...]
Landlord and tenant – Retaliation – Eviction for cause
Where a Housing Court judge ruled in favor of a residential landlord in a summary process proceeding, the judge erred by concluding that the statutory defense of retaliation was not available to the tenants.
Landlord and tenant – Assignment – Statute of frauds
Where a commercial landlord has challenged the validity of a tenant’s purported lease assignment, there was no written assignment agreement as required by G.L.c. 183, §3, so the landlord is entitled to summary judgment on all of the claims that turn on the validity of the assignment.
Landlord and tenant – Wear and tear
Where a challenge has been brought to the validity of a residential lease provision requiring a tenant to have the premises professionally cleaned at the end of the lease or to bear the costs of later repairs, that provision conflicts with G.L.c. 186 because it allows for security deposit deductions to repair reasonable wear and tear in violation of that statute.
Landlord and tenant – Harassment – Damages
Where a tenant was subjected to quid pro quo sexual harassment and a sexually hostile living environment, she should be awarded emotional distress damages in the amount of $55,000.
Civil practice – Excusable neglect
Where a defendant commercial tenant has been awarded summary judgment, a motion by the plaintiff landlord for relief from that judgment should be denied because the motion is untimely and because the landlord has not established excusable neglect.
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
