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Timestamp: 2019-04-21 22:16:39+00:00

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KENNETH C. MAYO & others vs. BOSTON RENT CONTROL ADMINISTRATOR & another.
A landlord was not entitled under St. 1970, c. 842, Section 9 (a) (10), to evict tenants from rent controlled low and moderate income units for the purpose of enabling him to make renovations which would increase the rental value of those units. [577-582] TAURO, C.J., dissenting.
BILL IN EQUITY filed in the Housing Court of the City of Boston on February 15, 1973.
The suit was heard by Garrity, J.
Arthur M. Gilman (Edward J. Lonergan with him) for Leonard Green, trustee; Christom G. Larsin, for Boston Rent Control Administrator, also with him.
Michael S. Dukakis for the plaintiffs (Richard M. Bluestein, for The Dorchester Tenants Action Council, Inc., amicus curiae, with him).
of the administrator, at which the landlord and tenants were represented by their respective counsel.
The administrator, in granting the applications, found "that the landlord proved an intention to renovate the units and that the nature of the work required the units to be vacated, and that such renovation was not in conflict with the provisions and purposes of the statute." On a petition for review filed by the tenants pursuant to St. 1970, c. 842, Section 10, the judge of the Housing Court reversed the administrator's decision. In substance he ruled that the landlord's intentions are in conflict with the purposes of the statute. We affirm.
We are thus reviewing the decision of the Housing Court judge on the evidence presented before him. [Note 1] We are not directly concerned with the actions of the administrator.
Our inquiry is twofold: (1) whether the judge was plainly wrong in any of his findings of fact, and (2) whether the judge correctly applied the law. We concluded that there was no error. As to the first inquiry, the judge made voluntary findings of fact which clearly do not purport to be complete findings. None of these findings was plainly wrong. Indeed they were plainly correct. We have concluded from our own examination of the record, as shown below, that most of the facts of the case are undisputed. Certain further allegations of fact now urged by the landlord are not supported in the record.
Nor was there error in the judge's ruling, in reversing the administrator's decision, that the evictions here were "in conflict with the provisions and purposes of . . . [the] act." St. 1970, c. 842, Section 9 (a) (10).
units will require, as the administrator found, that the units be vacant during the work.
There are certain disputed assertions of facts. The landlord contends that the Boston Redevelopment Authority threatened to take the building by eminent domain unless the renovations were accomplished. The landlord appears to urge also, although it is not entirely clear, that the proposed renovations have been shown to be necessary for continued occupancy of the twenty units. As shown later in this opinion, we believe that neither of these contentions is supported by the evidence.
those cases where the landlord has "just cause" and where "his purpose [in evicting the tenant] is not in conflict with the provisions and purposes of . . . [the] act."
We need not consider to what extent, if any, the judge may exercise discretion as to what constitutes "just cause" under this section. We hold that, as a matter of law, the purpose of the eviction here is not consistent with the provisions and purposes of the act. We reach this conclusion on evidence in the record, summarized above, which is undisputed and may fairly be said to be binding on the landlord.
From the plain language of Section 1 it is clear that one of the principal purposes of the act is to preserve and expand the supply of housing for families of low and moderate income. The record establishes that the twenty units presently carry rents from $145 to $315 a month. If the proposed renovation takes place, rents on the units will increase by at least $120 to $125 a month. Both parties have clearly assumed in their briefs and arguments that this will remove the apartments from the low and moderate rental market. Presumably, this change will be permanent. This result would be in conflict with what is clearly a central purpose of the act. Nor would the proposed rehabilitation meet the spirit and intent of the act in any way calculated to mitigate the loss to the market of twenty low and moderate rental units. The total number of available units, at any and all rental levels, would not be increased by the rehabilitation; the net effect would be to convert twenty low and moderate rental units into twenty high-rent units. Clearly the administrator could not validly permit evictions in these circumstances, as the trial judge ruled.
in the interests of health or safety. All of the evidence presented before the Housing Court is consistent with the obvious purpose of the intended evictions, viz.: to rid the units of tenants in order that, after rehabilitation, the units will bring substantially higher rents. The evidence does not warrant a conclusion that the units will be unsuited for occupation, as at present, unless rehabilitated. Thus, in all the circumstances shown in the record we consider it fair to treat this as a case which presents the single issue of whether evictions may be ordered, not for necessary maintenance, but for optional upgrading of the apartments. Our conclusion is that evictions may not be ordered for that purpose.
It does not follow, as the landlord argues, that it is left with the option of either demolishing the units or allowing them to deteriorate for lack of repair. For all that appears, necessary repairs may be done without evictions. Also, Section 7 (a) of the act guarantees a "fair net operating income" to the landlord, and this must necessarily provide for essential repairs.
Other arguments of the landlord are not convincing. He contends that in some manner the rehabilitation of the twenty units was ordered by the Boston Redevelopment Authority under threat of a land taking. This is not shown in the record; correspondence from the Authority to the landlord at best extended praise for the rehabilitation. The landlord also argues that the units not subject to rent control have already been renovated at great cost, and that it would be incongruous to deny similar treatment to the remaining twenty units. The short answer to this is that the work on the other units was commenced without prior guaranties as to rent control by any public official and that the functions of the administrator and the court cannot thus be foreclosed in advance.
full protection of their rights under such a law. Additionally we must, with full regard for the acute conditions which necessitated the act, give most careful consideration to the effect of our decision on the shortage of low and moderate income housing. Cf Post v. Cashin, 323 Mass. 316, 318 (1948); Russell v. Treasurer & Recr. Gen. 331 Mass. 501, 509 (1954).
TAURO, C.J. (dissenting). I am cognizant of the skill and scholarship apparent in the majority opinion, but I must respectfully dissent. Only recently we reaffirmed the fundamental canon of statutory construction that "[w]e must construe . . . [a] statute, `if fairly possible, so as to avoid not only the conclusion that it is unconstitutional but also grave doubts upon that score.'" Commonwealth v. Lamb, ante, 265, 269 (1974). The majority have adopted the Housing Court's interpretation of the "just cause" provision of the act (St. 1970, c. 842, Section 9 [a] ). In my opinion, that interpretation, as applied to the facts in this case, raises a serious question whether constitutional prohibitions against the taking of private property without compensation have been violated. I would follow the administrator's interpretation, for it avoids constitutional doubts. Yet it is reasonable and consistent with the provisions and purposes of the act.
358 Mass. 686 (1971). However, we are not thereby foreclosed from declaring unconstitutional any action taken or contemplated under the act on a particular set of facts. Barney & Carey Co. v. Milton, 324 Mass. 440, 444-445 (1949). Grosso v. Board of Adjustment of Millburn, 137 N.J.L. 630 (1948).
that the State has the power to control rent and evictions during a public emergency, that power is subject to important constitutional limitations. The Supreme Court of the United States recognized these limitations in the Block case, cited above, in which the court upheld the validity of the rent control law applicable to the District of Columbia. Writing for the court, Mr. Justice Holmes stated: "[A] public exigency will justify the legislature in restricting property rights in land to a certain extent without compensation . . . . Housing is a necessary of life. All the elements of a public interest justifying some degree of public control are present. The only matter that seems to us open to debate is whether the statute goes too far. For just as there comes a point at which the police power ceases and leaves only that of eminent domain, it may be conceded that regulations of the present sort pressed to a certain height might amount to a taking without due process of law" (emphasis supplied). Id. at 156.
far it will be recognized as a taking." Id. at 415. Whether governmental action restricting the use of land and diminishing its value "goes too far" is a matter of degree and depends on the particular facts of the case. Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, supra, at 416. United States v. Causby, 328 U.S. 256, 262 (1946). United States v. Central Eureka Mining Co. 357 U.S. 155, 168 (1958). Aronson v. Sharon, 346 Mass. 598, 603 (1964). State v. Johnson, 265 Atl. 2d 711, 714-715 (Maine 1970). Grosso v. Board of Adjustment of Millburn, 137 N. J. L. 630, 633 (1948). Miller v. Beaver Falls, 368 Pa. 189, 194, 196-197 (1951).
effect, been converted from private to public housing. This amounts to a pro tanto taking for which the landlord is entitled to compensation. Rivera v. R. Cobian Chinea & Co. Inc. 181 F. 2d 974, 978 (1st Cir. 1950).
I do not, of course, question the need for rental accommodations for persons of low or moderate income. But I fear that important constitutionally protected individual rights are being sacrificed here to meet a public need. Such a sacrifice on the part of an individual is too great to demand no matter how urgent the public need. When private property rights are so stringently restricted, as here, the Constitution of the United States and our Constitution require that the government must pay for the use of the property. Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, supra, at 416. Campbell v. Boston, 290 Mass. 427, 431 (1935). Aronson v. Sharon, 346 Mass. 598, 604 (1964).
The landlord's purpose is, as the majority note, to upgrade the apartments. Neither the majority nor the judge of the Housing Court point to any specific prohibition in Section 9 with which the landlord's purpose conflicts. The majority find a conflict between the landlord's purpose and one of the purposes of the act, i.e., to relieve the "shortage of rental housing accommodations for families of low and moderate income." St. 1970, c. 842, Section 1. Undoubtedly, this is an important purpose. But we cannot ignore the conditions that led to the housing shortage: "housing demolition, deterioration of a substantial portion of the existing housing stock, insufficient new housing construction, increased costs of construction and finance, inflation and the effects of the Vietnam war." St. 1970, c. 842, Section 1. The administrator may well have reasoned that denial of the certificates would have aggravated the very conditions that caused the shortage, for the landlord's alternatives would be to destroy the units or to convert them to a nonhousing use (thus reducing the number of rental units available) or to allow the property to deteriorate. See Marshal House, Inc. v. Rent Control Bd. of Brookline, 358 Mass. 686, 695 (1971).
Furthermore, the administrator may have determined that if the landlord did not renovate when he desired to, inflation would cause the cost of such renovation to increase so greatly by the time the rent control restrictions ended that he would not be able to afford such extensive alterations. It should also be borne in mind that there is nothing in the act indicating an intention to restrict the expansion of the higher income housing market. [Note Dissent-5] Hence, the administrator's conclusion that the landlord's purpose was not in conflict with the purposes of the act was correct. This is not to say that, absent constitutional considerations, the ruling of the judge of the Housing Court that the landlord's intentions conflicted with the purposes of the act was incorrect as matter of law. However, in view of the availability of the reasonable alternative construction of the act by the administrator, which avoids the serious constitutional issue discussed above, I accept his interpretation rather than that of the Housing Court judge. I believe it is most difficult to rationalize a position that no constitutional issue is raised by the majority view.
emergency in the area of housing, the fundamental question is on whom the burden of meeting the exigency should fall. Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, 260 U.S. 393, 416 (1922). In my view the landlord here is being told to shoulder an unfair share of the burden. When considering the question of the extent to which public needs should be permitted to encroach on private property rights, we should keep before us constantly the admonition of Mr. Justice Holmes: "We are in danger of forgetting that a strong public desire to improve the public condition is not enough to warrant achieving the desire by a shorter cut than the constitutional way of paying for the change." Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, supra, at 416.
Because of the narrow construction of the "just cause" provision adopted by the Housing Court judge and followed by the majority, the landlord is being required to dedicate substantial property interests to a public use without compensation. Since the broader interpretation of the provision adopted by the administrator is available and would avoid the serious constitutional question raised, I would reverse the decision of the Housing Court and reinstate the decision of the administrator.
[Note 1] The State Administrative Procedure Act, G. L. c. 30A, is not applicable here. Section 14 of c. 30A provides for judicial review only of final decisions of agencies made in an adjudicatory proceeding. The administrator here is not an agency as defined in G. L. c. 30A, Section 1. Gentile v. Rent Control Bd. of Somerville, ante, 343, 349 n. 6. Moreover, the tenants, although they received one in the present case, were not entitled as of right to a hearing before the administrator. Gentile v. Rent Control Bd. of Somerville, supra. Accordingly, the proceeding before the administrator was not an "adjudicatory proceeding" as defined in G. L. c. 30A, Section 1. Natick Trust Co. v. Board of Bank Incorporation, 337 Mass. 615, 616 (1958). First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston v. Alcoholic Beverages Control Commn. 349 Mass. 273, 274-275 (1965).
It is not clear from the briefs of the parties whether they considered the proceeding in the Housing Court as subject to G. L. c. 30A, or as comparable to a G. L. c. 231A proceeding. For all that appears, only the evidence produced before the administrator was presented before the judge. In any event, it makes little difference, since we have been able to establish the facts, and the conclusion which the judge reached is required as a matter of law from those facts.
(9) The landlord seeks to recover possession to demolish or otherwise remove the unit from housing use . . .."
[Note 3] "SECTION 1. Declaration of Emergency. The general court finds and declares that a serious public emergency exists with respect to the housing of a substantial number of the citizens in certain areas of the commonwealth but especially in the cities of the commonwealth regardless of population and towns with a population of fifty thousand or over, which emergency has been created by housing demolition, deterioration of a substantial portion of the existing housing stock, insufficient new housing construction, increased costs of construction and finance, inflation and the effects of the Vietnam war, and which has resulted in a substantial and increasing shortage of rental housing accommodations for families of low and moderate income and abnormally high rents; that unless residential rents and eviction of tenants are regulated and controlled, such emergency and the further inflationary pressures resulting therefrom will produce serious threats to the public health, safety and general welfare of the citizens of the aforementioned communities and in other communities adjacent to them; that such emergency should be met by the commonwealth immediately and with due regard for the rights and responsibilities of its local communities."
[Note 4] In much the same vein, the judge reasoned that Section 9 follows closely the rent control law formerly in effect in New York as shown in 65 McKinney's Cons. Laws of N. Y. Anno. Section 8585. He found significance in that the New York law included a specific provision for eviction "for the immediate purpose of substantially altering or remodeling . . . [the premises]," and that Section 9 did not include such a ground. Therefore he inferred a conscious deletion by the Massachusetts drafters, which in turn would weigh against inferring such a ground from the general language of the "just cause" clause. There is some validity to this reasoning, but the landlord argues with considerable conviction that there are other dissimilarities between the two statutes which cast doubt on the judge's inference.
[Note Dissent-1] In the Bowles and Woods cases, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the constitutionality of Federal rent control acts and allowed private property rights to be subordinated to the stringent demands imposed on the nation's resources by the war. After the full impact of World War II had passed, the court admitted its reluctance, in the context of war, to grant private property rights the full measure of protection guaranteed by the United States Constitution. United States v. Central Eureka Mining Co. 357 U.S. 155, 168 (1958).
[Note Dissent-2] The right to the protection of private property is preserved not only in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, but also in the Massachusetts Constitution. In art. 1 of the Declaration of Rights, the right "of acquiring, possessing and protecting property" is declared to be one of man's "natural, essential, and unalienable rights." Article 10 thereof declares that "[e]ach individual of the society has a right to be protected by it in the enjoyment of his . . . property, according to standing laws . . . . [N]o part of the property of any individual can, with justice, be taken from him, or applied to public uses, without his own consent, or that of the representative body of the people . . . . And whenever the public exigencies require that the property of any individual should be appropriated to public uses, he shall receive a reasonable compensation therefor."
[Note Dissent-3] True, the act provides it will terminate on April 1, 1975 (St. 1970, c. 842, Section 13), but a time limitation is constitutionally required. Block v. Hirsh, 256 U.S. 135, 157 (1921). However, on finding that the housing emergency still exists, the Legislature can extend the operation of the act. (In fact, by amendment approved on June 13, 1974, the act has been extended to December 31, 1975. St. 1974, c. 360.) Hence, the restrictions on the landlord are for an indefinite time. Even in the absence of any extension, the imposition of substantial restraints on the use and enjoyment of property materially affecting its value, although they be imposed for a definite period of time, constitutes a taking. Miller v. Beaver Falls, 368 Pa. 189, 193-194, 196-197 (1951).
[Note Dissent-4] The administrator is not limited in the exercise of his discretion under Section 9 (a) (10) by the specific grounds for eviction set out in Section 9 (a) (1) through Section 9 (a) (9). The Legislature has made this plain by specifying in Section 9 (a) (10) that a tenant could be evicted from a controlled rental unit "for any other just cause" (emphasis supplied). Thus the intent was that this broad ground should be in addition to the specific grounds. We have very recently determined that chronic late payment of rent constituted "other just cause" under Section 9 (a) (10) even though Section 9 (a) (1) specifically provided for eviction for failure "to pay the rent to which the landlord is entitled." Gentile v. Rent Control Bd. of Somerville, ante, 343, 347 (1974). Consequently, we found it unnecessary to determine whether chronic late payment of rent was included in the particular ground in Section 9 (a) (1). We noted that Section 9 (a) (10) does not deal with a conflict between "any other just cause" and the particular causes set forth in the other nine subsections of Section 9 (a).
"He stated his opinion to be that the renovation was necessary. The original work in the apartments which was done in the forties, is far below modern standards. The partitions and walls are unsafe in case of fire (one hour rather than two hour enclosures.)" Apparently, the majority require an order from some public authority requiring renovation because of a violation of law before allowing a certificate of eviction to issue for renovation purposes. It is clear that the judge of the Housing Court would impose such a requirement, for he concluded that "[t]he situation might be otherwise if renovation and rehabilitation were required and evictions practically necessary to cure housing, building or other code violations." However, there is no such requirement in the act. True, there is a provision allowing eviction of a tenant who refuses to let his landlord make necessary repairs or improvements required by law. St. 1970, c. 842, Section 9 (a) (6). But, as we decided in the Gentile case, the "just cause" provision is not restricted or limited by the other nine subsections of Section 9 (a). Therefore, the landlord did not have to show any order of a public authority that required renovation in the interest of health or safety in order to justify issuance of certificates of eviction for "just cause."
By following the broad construction of the "just cause" provision adopted by the court in the Gentile case, the majority could have upheld the administrator's decision to issue the certificates and would have avoided what, in my opinion, is an unconstitutional application of the act.
[Note Dissent-5] On the contrary, it would be most harmful to the city of Boston to discourage higher income dwellings. It has been well established by experience that projects with only low income dwellings have failed miserably and have greatly increased the city's problems. The trend now is to encourage such construction as to preserve and promote a healthy mixture of affluent and poor in the community and to discourage further flight to the suburbs of higher income families. This could have been the Legislature's intent in the enactment of the statute and it is something the administrator had a right to consider in forming his judgment. Thus, there is no logical reason for the court to substitute its own judgment for that of the administrator.

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