Saia v. Bay State Gas Company (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-187-15)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports.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 14-P-1010 Appeals Court DIANE SAIA[1] vs. BAY STATE GAS COMPANY. No. 14-P-1010. Suffolk. April 15, 2015. – December 15, 2015. Present: Cohen, Wolohojian, & Maldonado, JJ. Massachusetts Retail Instalment Sales Act. Massachusetts Consumer Credit Cost Disclosure Act. Consumer Protection Act, Class action. Practice, Civil, Summary judgment. Contract, Lease of equipment. Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on November 2, 2010. After review by this court, 81 Mass. App. Ct. 1127 (2012), the case was heard by Janet L. Sanders, J., on motions for summary judgment. Valeriano Diviacchi for the plaintiff. J. Christopher Allen, Jr. (Troy Lieberman with him) for the defendant. MALDONADO, J. The plaintiff appeals from a judgment of dismissal contending, as she did below, that a transaction involving the lease of a water heater was actually a credit sale in disguise, and, consequently, that the defendant’s failure to make certain required disclosures amounted to common-law misrepresentation and a violation of G. L. c. 93A. Guided by Silva v. Rent-A-Center, Inc., 454 Mass. 667 (2009) (Silva), a Superior Court judge concluded that the transaction at issue did not meet the definition of either a “credit sale” under the Consumer Credit Cost Disclosure Act (CCCDA), G. L. c. 140D, § 1, or a “retail installment sale agreement” under the Retail Instalment Sales and Services Act (RISSA), G. L. c. 255D, § 1, and, accordingly, granted summary judgment in favor of the defendant. We agree and affirm. Background. In July, 2010, the plaintiff, Diane Saia, entered into an agreement with the defendant, Bay State Gas Company (Bay State), for the installation of a new water heater at her home in Longmeadow. The plaintiff signed a document entitled “Appliance Lease Agreement,” which obligated her to pay $ 28.16 per month for three years for use of a water heater. The total lease payments for the three-year “minimum term” amounted to $ 1,013.76. That amount combined with a $ 220 upfront installation fee brought the plaintiff’s total obligation under the agreement to $ 1,233.76. At the end of the minimum term, both the plaintiff and the defendant could cancel the lease at any time upon a thirty-day written notice. Absent the written cancellation notice, the lease could continue indefinitely. The plaintiff was also given the option to purchase the water heater at any time during the lease […]