Source: http://masscases.com/cases/app/80/80massappct476.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 10:57:15+00:00

Document:
Present: RAPOZA, C.J., KAFKER, & FECTEAU, JJ.
Landlord and Tenant, Rent, Habitability, Quiet enjoyment.
SUMMARY PROCESS. Complaint filed in the City of Boston Division of the Housing Court Department on January 11, 2010.
The case was heard by MaryLou Muirhead, J., and a motion for a new trial was heard by her.
Donald J. Bertrand for the plaintiff.
their counterclaims for breach of the implied warranty of habitability and, pursuant to G. L. c. 186, § 14, interference with their quiet enjoyment. On the counterclaims, the judge awarded damages of forty percent of the rent value to date totaling $4,528.54 for the breach of the warranty of habitability, and statutory damages of three months rent totaling $3,600 for the § 14 violation. The landlord appeals. We reverse so much of the judgment as finds in favor of the tenants on their § 14 counterclaim and awards them $3,600, as it was neither supported by the judge's findings nor warranted on the evidence before her. In all other respect, we affirm.
wide discretion in determining whether the conditions in any given rental unit amount to a material breach of the implied warranty of habitability." Jablonski v. Clemons, 60 Mass. App. Ct. 473, 475 (2004), citing Boston Hous. Authy. v. Hemingway, 363 Mass. 184, 200-201 & n.16 (1973). Although the parties gave conflicting testimony as to the condition of the locks on the door to the premises, we give deference to the trial judge's credibility determination. See Jablonski v. Casey, 64 Mass. App. Ct. 744, 747 (2005). In addition, the judge's conclusion that the hole in the ceiling and the failure to provide locks constituted a breach of the warranty of habitability is consistent with the relevant legal standards. See Doe v. New Bedford Hous. Authy., 417 Mass. 273, 281 (1994) (minimum standards of warranty of habitability are measured by applicable State building and sanitary codes). See also 105 Code Mass. Regs. § 410.480 (2007) (owner shall provide, install, and maintain locks to secure against unlawful entry).
The judge determined that the breach of the warranty of habitability reduced the value of the premises by forty percent from the inception of the lease through the date of trial, for a total of $4,528.86. We see no abuse of discretion as this is not an award that " 'no conscientious judge, acting intelligently' could have awarded." Aronovitz v. Fafard, 78 Mass. App. Ct. 1, 9 (2010), quoting from Twin Fires Inv., LLC v. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co., 445 Mass. 411, 425 (2005).
So much of the judgment as finds in favor of the tenants on their counterclaim for interference with their right to quiet enjoyment and awards them $3,600 is reversed. The remainder of the judgment finding in favor of the landlord for unpaid rent and awarding him $4,800, finding in favor of the tenants on their counterclaim for breach of the warranty of habitability and awarding them possession and $4,528.84, and dismissing the tenants' remaining counterclaims is affirmed.
[Note 2] The tenants are employed as custodians at a church to which the landlord belongs. The tenants testified that "[the landlord] has been going throughout the congregation, speaking to other members regarding this incident . . . . Members have come and questioned [one tenant] about [his] private business, which has been told to them by [the landlord]." According to the tenants, the landlord would come into the church after they had finished cleaning and place trash on the floors to make it look like the tenants had failed to clean the church.
[Note 3] The statute provides in pertinent part: "Any lessor or landlord of any building or part thereof occupied for dwelling purposes . . . who directly or indirectly interferes with the quiet enjoyment of any residential premises by the occupant . . . shall . . . be liable for actual and consequential damages or three month's rent, whichever is greater, and the costs of the action, including a reasonable attorney's fee, all of which may be applied in setoff to or in recoupment against any claim for rent owed or owing." G. L. c. 186, § 14, as amended through St. 1973, c. 778, § 2.
[Note 4] Although the landlord's conduct did not violate G. L. c. 186, § 14, we express no opinion as to the tenants' rights otherwise to seek legal recourse related to that conduct.

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