399 Chestnut Street  •  Needham, MA 02492  •  Ph: 781-444-9344  •  Fax: 781-449-0242  •  bob@robertsmart.net

Landlords, Tenants, and Condominiums

 
In 2006, some interesting cases involving landlords, tenants, and condominiums were decided in Massachusetts:

A residential landlord who failed to pay interest on last months’ rent deposits to a number of former tenants, primarily in Boston’s South End, recently agreed to pay $106,790.00, as well as the tenants’ attorneys fees, to settle the tenants’ class action suit, in Thelen v. GTI Properties, Inc. Massachusetts law requires residential landlords who receive security and last months’ rent deposits to hold them in interest bearing accounts, and pay interest. The law also allows tenants to recover triple damages and attorneys fees, if they prove a violation.

An employee who suffered injuries from a fall down the stairs leading to the basement of a building leased to a silkscreen printing company sued the commercial landlord for negligent maintenance. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, in Humphrey v. Byron, ruled that the employee’s case was properly dismissed, because commercial landlords, unlike residential landlords, owe no duty to persons legitimately in the leased premises. The result would likely have been different if the lease had left maintenance responsibility to the landlord.

A property management agent brought suit on the residential landlord’s behalf against a tenant seeking orders regarding the tenant’s dog. In Las Collection Management v. Pagan, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the Housing Court Judge should have dismissed the case, because the agent, who was not an attorney, was engaged in the unauthorized practice of law. The Court noted that the landlord could have filed and prosecuted the case himself.

A residential condominium owner’s suit against the condominium trustees for mold contamination was allowed to go forward in the Housing Court, on nuisance and contract grounds, despite the trustees’ attempt to have the case dismissed. According to the owner’s complaint in Patkin v. Northside Condominium, water originating from a washing machine in a neighboring upstairs apartment had flooded into common areas and through the common areas to the owner’s basement unit, causing mold contamination in both, and the trustees had failed to take steps to remedy the situation.

<< Legal Bulletins