Boston Housing Authority v. Hemingway, 293 N.E.2d 831 (1973)

Citation: Boston Housing Authority v. Hemingway, 293 N.E.2d 831 (1973)
Parent Document: Boston Housing Authority v. Hemingway, 293 N.E.2d 831 (1973)
Jurisdiction: Massachusetts (state)
Effective Date: 1973-03-05
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2000597/boston-housing-authority-v-hemingway/ ↗

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The purpose of these statutes was to allow tenants to initiate the Code enforcement process by bringing before the courts recalcitrant landlords who refused to remedy conditions in the tenants’ dwelling units which violate the State Sanitary Code. However, many tenants, especially poor tenants, would not avail themselves of a remedy which required them to sue their landlords. Therefore, the Legislature has also granted tenants a defensive remedy by enacting c. 239, § 8A.7 It authorizes tenants to withhold rent where a housing code inspection report citing sanitary code violations has been issued to the landlord. The tenant can take this action without having to sue the landlord and without fear of being evicted for nonpayment of rent. Chapter 239, § 8A, amended summary process so that the landlord’s violation of State Sanitary Code standards of fitness for human habitation, if properly raised, would constitute a defence for the tenant in that proceeding. This statute allows the tenant to initiate the Code enforcement process by direct action against his landlord without using the court as an intermediary. Unlike the more cumbersome procedure established in c. Ill, §§ 127A-127H, where the landlord can use delaying tactics by asking for repeated continuances, c. 239, § 8A’s provisions force him to take the initiative by making repairs or contesting the tenant’s action in court in order to recover the withheld rent.8

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