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NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports.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 […]
South Boston Elderly Residences, Inc. v. Moynahan (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-188-15)
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 15-P-319 Appeals Court SOUTH BOSTON ELDERLY RESIDENCES, INC. vs. GERALD MOYNAHAN. No. 15-P-319. Suffolk. November 2, 2015. – December 15, 2015. Present: Agnes, Sullivan, & Blake, JJ. Practice, Civil, Summary Process, Appeal, Dismissal of appeal, Assembly of record. Summary Process. Rules of Appellate Procedure. Summary process. Complaint filed in the Boston Division of the Housing Court Department on February 4, 2013. A motion to dismiss the appeal was heard by Jeffrey M. Winik, J. A. Joseph Ross for the tenant. W. Paul Needham for the landlord. BLAKE, J. Following the entry of judgment in a summary process action in the Boston Division of the Housing Court, the defendant tenant, Gerald Moynahan, filed a notice of appeal from the judgment. More than one year later, the plaintiff landlord, South Boston Elderly Residences, Inc. (SBER), moved to dismiss the appeal, citing Moynahan’s delay in filing the trial transcript with the court. The motion was allowed, and this appeal followed. We reverse. 1. Procedural background. On October 28, 2013, Moynahan’s notice of appeal relating to the underlying judgment was filed with the court. On November 25, 2013, Moynahan through counsel (counsel) ordered a copy of the recording of the trial, which the court received on December 2, 2013, and so notified counsel that day. On January 21, 2014, counsel retrieved the copy and sent it to be transcribed. A dispute arose between the transcriber and counsel as to who would file the transcript with the court. The transcriber ultimately refused to file the transcript, contrary to Mass.R.A.P. 8(b)(3)(iv), as appearing in 388 Mass. 1106 (1983). On February 18, 2014, the transcription was completed and delivered to counsel. Rather than filing the transcript when he received it from the transcriber, counsel decided to wait until after he recovered from a scheduled surgery to file it.[1] Counsel eventually filed the transcript with the court on December 12, 2014. On December 17, 2014, SBER filed a motion to dismiss the appeal for undue delay pursuant to Mass.R.A.P. 9(c), as amended, 417 Mass. 1601 (1994), and Mass.R.A.P. 10(c), as amended, 417 Mass. 1602 (1994). After a hearing, a judge allowed the motion, on the ground that counsel had committed inexcusable neglect by purposely delaying the filing of the transcript to control the timing of the appeal. Moynahan filed a timely notice […]
Beacon South Station Associates, LSE v. Board of Assessors of Boston (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-048-14)
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 13‑P‑739 Appeals Court BEACON SOUTH STATION ASSOCIATES, LSE[1] vs. BOARD OF ASSESSORS OF BOSTON. No. 13‑P‑739. Suffolk. February 12, 2014. ‑ May 14, 2014. Present: Kafker, Milkey, & Sullivan, JJ. Taxation, Abatement, Exemption, Leased property, Real estate tax: abatement, exemption. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Boston. Contract, Lease of real estate. Real Property, Lease. Appeal from a decision of the Appellate Tax Board. Anthony M. Ambriano for the defendant. Stephen H. Oleskey for the plaintiff. KAFKER, J. The principal issue in this case is whether certain real estate in Boston owned by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and leased to a private, for-profit entity was exempt from taxation pursuant to G. L. c. 161A, § 24, in fiscal years 2009 and 2010.[2] The property in question is the South Station Headhouse (Headhouse), which the MBTA leases to Beacon South Station Associates, LSE, also known as EOP-South Station, LLC (EOP). The Headhouse consists of an enclosed concourse through which the public passes to access MBTA and Amtrak train platforms, an underground subway connection, office and retail space, a surface facility and parking area, and the surrounding sidewalks. The real estate taxes assessed on the Headhouse were $ 1,439,974.76 in 2009, and $ 1,135,463.55 in 2010. EOP filed challenges to the 2009 and 2010 fiscal year assessments on the property with the board of assessors of Boston (assessors), and then appealed to the Appellate Tax Board (board) following the assessors’ refusal to abate the taxes. The board ruled that G. L. c. 161A, § 24, “expressly exempted the property of the MBTA from taxation, whether or not leased for business purposes,” and granted the abatements. The assessors appealed. On appeal, the assessors’ primary argument is that the board erred in its conclusion, and the § 24 exemption did not apply to the Headhouse at all because EOP, a private entity, leased the Headhouse from the MBTA and operated it for profit in the tax years in question. Alternatively, the assessors argue that even if the Headhouse was not subject to a blanket assessment for the years in question, EOP could be taxed on the tenant improvements made to the property because EOP owned these improvements according to the terms of the lease, and they were therefore not property of the MBTA. Examination of G. L. c. 161, § 24, as […]
Woman Charged in Fatal South End Hit-and-Run
One woman is dead after a hit-and-run accident in the South End on Thursday night. South End Patch News
South End Brothers Indicted on Charges of Defrauding One Fund
Branden Mattier, 22, was arrested at his South End home earlier this summer. He and his brother, Domunique Grice, 27 were indicted on fraud charges Thursday by the Massachusetts Attorney General. South End Patch News
South End Brothers Indicted on Charges of Defrauding One Fund
Branden Mattier, 22, was arrested at his South End home earlier this summer. He and his brother, Domunique Grice, 27 were indicted on fraud charges Thursday by the Massachusetts Attorney General. South End Patch News
South End Accident Sends Police Officer, Motorist, to Hospital
Two people were injured in a car accident between a police cruiser and another vehicle in the South End on Tuesday night. South End Patch News