South Boston Elderly Residences, Inc. v. Moynahan (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-054-17)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports.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-209 Appeals Court SOUTH BOSTON ELDERLY RESIDENCES, INC. vs. GERALD MOYNAHAN. No. 16-P-209. Suffolk. December 1, 2016. – May 9, 2017. Present: Milkey, Massing, & Sacks, JJ. Housing. Summary Process. Landlord and Tenant, Eviction, Rent, Repairs, Habitability, Reprisal against tenant, Consumer protection, Quiet enjoyment. Practice, Civil, Summary process, Abatement, Damages. Damages, Breach of implied warranty of habitability. Summary Process. Complaint filed in the Boston Division of the Housing Court Department on February 4, 2013. The case was heard by Jeffrey M. Winik, J. Joseph Ross (Ellen Rappaport-Tanowitz also present) for the tenant. W. Paul Needham for the landlord. MILKEY, J. The defendant, Gerald Moynahan, rents a small apartment from the plaintiff, South Boston Elderly Residences, Inc. (landlord). In this summary process action, Moynahan retained possession, which is no longer at issue. The remaining disputes concern his counterclaims. A Housing Court judge found that the landlord committed a breach of the warranty of habitability with respect to two different problems with the apartment. One was a recurring moisture problem that became so bad at one point that mushrooms were growing in the carpeting. The other was the lack of ventilation due to inaccessible windows. However, for various reasons that the judge explained in a detailed memorandum of decision, Moynahan received only minor rent abatement damages, and his claim brought pursuant to G. L. c. 93A was dismissed. The judge also concluded that the landlord had presented clear and convincing evidence to overcome the statutory presumption that its efforts to evict Moynahan were in retaliation for his reporting the sanitary code violations at the apartment. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for additional proceedings. Background. In November, 2007, Moynahan moved into unit 13 of an elderly housing complex that the landlord owns in the South Boston neighborhood of Boston. The building had just been renovated, and Moynahan was the first tenant to move into unit 13 after the renovation. This ground-floor apartment totals approximately 453 square feet in size. Because of the sloping topography of the site, part of the unit is subterranean. Unit 13 has long suffered from moisture and related mold problems. The specific progression of these problems is important to resolving this case, and we therefore turn to reviewing that history in […]
South Boston Elderly Residences, Inc. v. Moynahan (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-054-17)
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-209 Appeals Court SOUTH BOSTON ELDERLY RESIDENCES, INC. vs. GERALD MOYNAHAN. No. 16-P-209. Suffolk. December 1, 2016. – May 9, 2017. Present: Milkey, Massing, & Sacks, JJ. Housing. Summary Process. Landlord and Tenant, Eviction, Rent, Repairs, Habitability, Reprisal against tenant, Consumer protection, Quiet enjoyment. Practice, Civil, Summary process, Abatement, Damages. Damages, Breach of implied warranty of habitability. Summary Process. Complaint filed in the Boston Division of the Housing Court Department on February 4, 2013. The case was heard by Jeffrey M. Winik, J. Joseph Ross (Ellen Rappaport-Tanowitz also present) for the tenant. W. Paul Needham for the landlord. MILKEY, J. The defendant, Gerald Moynahan, rents a small apartment from the plaintiff, South Boston Elderly Residences, Inc. (landlord). In this summary process action, Moynahan retained possession, which is no longer at issue. The remaining disputes concern his counterclaims. A Housing Court judge found that the landlord committed a breach of the warranty of habitability with respect to two different problems with the apartment. One was a recurring moisture problem that became so bad at one point that mushrooms were growing in the carpeting. The other was the lack of ventilation due to inaccessible windows. However, for various reasons that the judge explained in a detailed memorandum of decision, Moynahan received only minor rent abatement damages, and his claim brought pursuant to G. L. c. 93A was dismissed. The judge also concluded that the landlord had presented clear and convincing evidence to overcome the statutory presumption that its efforts to evict Moynahan were in retaliation for his reporting the sanitary code violations at the apartment. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for additional proceedings. Background. In November, 2007, Moynahan moved into unit 13 of an elderly housing complex that the landlord owns in the South Boston neighborhood of Boston. The building had just been renovated, and Moynahan was the first tenant to move into unit 13 after the renovation. This ground-floor apartment totals approximately 453 square feet in size. Because of the sloping topography of the site, part of the unit is subterranean. Unit 13 has long suffered from moisture and related mold problems. The specific progression of these problems is important to resolving this case, and we therefore turn to reviewing that history in […]