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Potential retaliation from landlord in MA
Anonymous6 views6 answers
I'm a tenant at will at my apartment but we've had a verbal agreement that I could stay through May. In November, the hard-wired fire alarm located in the hallway I share with another apartment in the same building began going off for seemingly no reason and I couldn't get it to stop. This was at one in the morning so it certainly wasn't ideal. I called the landlord and he kept insisting he would address it in the morning. I said that I was worried there was something wrong and that I would call the fire department to get assistance from them if he wouldn't help. So that's what I did. Last night he delivered a notice to quit at the end of the month with no stated reason. Can I claim that this is retaliation?
There is no such thing as retaliatory notice to quit.
You are a month to month tenant. The landlord by law can get you out with notice as you have been served.
The retaliation question is an interesting line of inquiry but, I think the analysis starts a bit sooner than that. Being a tenant at will is a term of art but there is still a term of occupancy involved. Most states have a default length of time (usually 30 days unless otherwise stated in writing) for the term of occupancy. Furthermore, the law will sometimes require that the landlord give you notice to quit before the term begins or else you are bound for the next term. In the example above, if the term of occupancy is thirty days, the landlord may be within his rights in giving you notice to quit by the end of February. You should consult with a qualified attorney as soon as possible because the length of the remainder of your term is likely the key to determining whether the retaliation claim will hold water. Good luck.
Retaliation cases usually arise with more serious code violations, but you can certainly raise the defense. Here is the statute. https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartII/TitleI/Chapter186/Section18
Whether it succeeds is another story. The verbal agreement to stay until May is not likely to hold up, but raise it in your defense as well, insofar it sheds more light on this action being retaliatory.
Regarding retaliation, and with great respect to my colleague above, you might wish to review this statute: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartII/TitleI/Chapter186/Section18.
If your landlord delivered a notice to quit at the end of the month, that suggests that you have 48 hours to vacate. You might wish to peruse the document found at: http://www.mass.gov/ocabr/docs/tenantsrights.pdf, particularly pages 4 and 10.
As to your "verbal agreement" re: staying until May, do you think the landlord will share your memory?
There are two anti-retaliation statutes that protect Massachusetts tenants -- one serves as a defense to an eviction action (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 239, sec. 2A); the other serves as an action for damages against a landlord who engages in retaliatory actions (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 186, sec. 18). In addition, as a tenant at will, you are entitled to a rental period Notice to Quit (if you are up to date on your rent), meaning that if he gave you a notice before February 1, 2014, he could not even begin eviction proceedings against you until March 1, 2014. Furthermore, you cannot be evicted until a judge issues a judgment in favor of your landlord and the landlord's actions may provide a defense that will prevent your eviction. Talk to an attorney as soon as possible to discuss your options .
