Adjartey v. Cent. Div. of the Hous. Court Departmentand, 120 N.E.3d 297 (2019)

Citation: Adjartey v. Cent. Div. of the Hous. Court Departmentand, 120 N.E.3d 297 (2019)
Parent Document: Adjartey v. Cent. Div. of the Hous. Court Departmentand, 120 N.E.3d 297 (2019)
Jurisdiction: Massachusetts (state)
Effective Date: 2019-04-10
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/7178223/adjartey-v-cent-div-of-the-hous... ↗

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We urge judges to be mindful of the confidential nature of affidavits of indigency when conducting such hearings, and to avoid revealing sensitive information regarding a party's indigency whenever possible. We also urge judges presiding over a summary process case to make every effort to issue a decision regarding an applicant's indigency as quickly as practicable. See G. L. c. 261, § 27C (2) - (3) (regular requests shall be granted by clerk "forthwith"; applications raising significant questions about indigency or requesting extra costs shall be brought to attention of judge *311"forthwith"). Where, because of a delay in the indigency determination, a Housing Court clerk or judge is unable to provide an indigent applicant with relevant documents, services, or objects in time for the applicant to review them in advance of an upcoming court appearance, we encourage Housing Court judges to exercise their discretion to postpone hearings as needed to ensure that all parties have sufficient time to prepare. See Housing Court Standing Order 1-04 ("Housing Court judges may reschedule hearings in the exercise of their sound discretion").

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