Mellor v. Berman, 390 Mass. 275 (1983)

Citation: Mellor v. Berman, 390 Mass. 275 (1983)
Parent Document: Mellor v. Berman, 390 Mass. 275 (1983)
Jurisdiction: Massachusetts (state)
Effective Date: 1983-10-03
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/6575926/mellor-v-berman/ ↗

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Ordinarily, where the language of a statute is plain and unambiguous, our analysis would not look beyond the language to other sources. See New England Medical Center Hosp., Inc. v. Commissioner of Revenue, supra at 749-750; Hoffman v. Howmedica, Inc., 373 Mass. 32, 37 (1977). The defendant argues, however, that the construction of G. L. c. 186, § 15B (7), has been brought into question by our recent decision, McGrath v. Mishara, supra. That case involved a landlord found to have made deductions for unpaid rent from the tenants’ security deposit in bad faith in violation of (1) G. L. c. 186, § 15B, (2) City of Boston Code, Ordinances, Title 10, c. 3, § 109 (1975), and (3) G. L. c. 93A, § 9 (1).10 McGrath v. Mishara, supra at 83. There, we found no error in the judge’s conclusion of violations by the landlord but declined to allow the cumulation of multiple damages. McGrath v. Mishara, supra at 85-86. In discussing the damages for the violation of G. L. c. 186, § 15B, we said, “At a minimum, a landlord must have a reasonable, good faith belief that it is entitled to an amount deducted as ‘unpaid rent’ under § 15B.” McGrath, supra at 80. Going on to address the permitted deduction for “unpaid rent,” we stated that the statute is “clear that it was not intended to permit a deduction of ‘rent’ by a landlord who knew or should have known it was improper. There is support in the record for the judge’s finding that the landlord here acted in bad faith in deducting the $135 figure for rent owed *281and that this conduct violated the provisions of § 15B.” McGrath, supra.

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