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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Before initiating an action in the Housing Court, the landlord must serve his or her tenant with a copy of the summons and complaint. See Rule 2(b) of the Uniform Summary Process Rules ("date of service ... shall be deemed the date of commencement of the action subject to proper entry"). More specifically, the tenant must receive a copy of the summons and complaint between seven and thirty days before the "entry date" by which the landlord is required to file relevant documents in the Superior Court, the District Court, the Boston Municipal Court, or the Housing Court.6 See id.; Rule 1 & commentary of the Uniform Summary Process Rules. The landlord must schedule this entry date for **853a Monday or, if Monday happens to be a holiday, the following Tuesday. Rule 2(c) & commentary of the Uniform Summary Process Rules (1993). For example, if a landlord plans to serve his or her tenant with a copy of the summons and complaint on Wednesday, January 2, 2019, the entry date must be scheduled for a Monday between seven and thirty days from January 2. This means that the entry date could be scheduled for Monday, January 14, 2019; Tuesday, January 22, 2019 (because Monday, January 21, 2019, is Martin Luther King Jr. Day); or Monday, January 28, 2019. Once the landlord has filed the required documents with the court clerk, the summary process eviction case is entered. See Rule 2(d)-(e) of the Uniform Summary Process Rules (1993). If the landlord initiates his or her summary process action in the Superior Court, District Court, or Boston Municipal Court, the tenant may transfer that action to the Housing Court by filing a transfer form in both courts before the day of trial.7 See Rule 4 of the Uniform Summary Process Rules (1982); G. L. c. 185C, § 20.

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