BRANDA PEEBLES & Another v. JRK PROPERTY HOLDINGS, INC., & others. (2025)

Citation: BRANDA PEEBLES & Another v. JRK PROPERTY HOLDINGS, INC., & others. (2025)
Parent Document: BRANDA PEEBLES & Another v. JRK PROPERTY HOLDINGS, INC., & others. (2025)
Jurisdiction: Massachusetts (state)
Effective Date: 2025-08-01
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10646213/branda-peebles-another-v-jrk-p... ↗

Full Text

1,130 chars

We have not had occasion to interpret the phrase "reasonable wear and tear" in this statute since the Legislature added the phrase in 1970.  See St. 1970, c. 666, § 1.  The term "wear and tear" is, however, a familiar one.  It connotes "[d]eterioration caused by ordinary use; the depreciation of property resulting from its reasonable use."  Black's Law Dictionary 1915 (12th ed. 2024).  Under our common law, a tenant is not liable for wear and tear from ordinary use but is liable for voluntary waste if the tenant damages the property through unreasonable use.  See Bech v. Cuevas, 404 Mass. 249, 254 (1989); Gade v. National Creamery Co., 324 Mass. 515, 517 (1949), citing Chalmers v. Smith, 152 Mass. 561, 564 (1891); E.G. Daher & H. Chopp, Landlord and Tenant Law § 20:1 (3d ed. 2000), and cases cited.  The Legislature's additional qualification in G. L. c. 186, § 15B (4) (iii), that the degree of wear and tear be "reasonable" means, under the definition of that word most relevant here, wear and tear that is "[w]ithin sensible or rational limits; not excessive; moderate."  Black's Law Dictionary 1520 (12th ed. 2024).

Other Sections in This Document (49)

Full Text