Cort v. Majors (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-112-17)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us 16-P-694 Appeals Court TCHAD CORT vs. ALVER MAJORS. No. 16-P-694. Suffolk. May 10, 2017. – August 31, 2017. Present: Milkey, Sullivan, & Henry, JJ. Summary Process. Practice, Civil, Summary process, Jury trial, Waiver of trial by jury. Constitutional Law, Trial by jury, Waiver of constitutional rights. Summary Process. Complaint filed in the Boston Division of the Housing Court Department on September 2, 2015. The case was heard by MaryLou Muirhead, J. Carson Denny (Patricia Whiting also present) for the defendant. Tchad Cort, pro se. HENRY, J. The defendant tenant, Alver Majors (tenant), appeals from a Housing Court judgment, entered following a bench trial, that awarded to the plaintiff landlord, Tchad Cort (landlord), possession of an apartment in which the tenant resided. The trial judge also awarded damages to the landlord for nonpayment of rent, reduced by the amount of relief granted to the tenant on his counterclaims for breach of the covenant of quiet enjoyment and breach of G. L. c. 93A. The tenant argues that the judge erred by ruling that the tenant waived his right to a jury trial by failing to object to the commencement of a bench trial. We conclude that the tenant did not waive his right to a jury, and therefore vacate the judgment. Background. The tenant lived for four years in the basement unit of the landlord’s building at 96 Mount Pleasant Avenue in the Roxbury section of Boston, paying $ 600 per month in rent. In April of 2015, the tenant ceased paying his rent. In September, 2015, the landlord filed a claim for possession in the Housing Court due to the tenant’s nonpayment of rent. The tenant timely filed an answer and counterclaims alleging violations of the implied warranty of habitability and G. L. c. 93A, and breach of the covenant of quiet enjoyment. The tenant’s answer included a request for a jury trial in the caption and in the body of the answer. The tenant’s jury claim was separately docketed. The tenant and the landlord both appeared pro se on the date scheduled for trial. When the case was called, the judge asked the tenant if he was prepared to move forward with the trial and he responded affirmatively. The judge then asked the clerk to swear in the witnesses and called the […]