A few months ago, I received a call from a client whose daughter lived with three other women in an apartment.  The landlord, who had a chain of apartments in the Greater Boston area, was being neglectful.  There was a rodent problem, a leak in the ceiling persisted, and in this winter of winters, the heating system often failed.  Phone calls, letters, threats of non-payment of rent all were ignored.  In desperation, we were called upon to try to make the situation better.

The women wanted to remain in the apartment.  They all taught school in the local area.  They were friends and had found a location that was suitable.  They wanted the landlord to be responsive to their needs and live up to the assumption which exists in all Massachusetts tenancies which provides that an apartment must be “habitable”.  We started off with normal channels.  We wrote a certified letter to the landlord, requesting a forum to explain the problems.  This was unanswered.  We sent another letter and advised the landlord that if remedial action was not commenced, we would advise our clients to withhold rent.  Again, no response.  We informed the health officers in the town involved and requested that they inspect the alleged problems.  They conducted an inspection and cited the landlord for health code violations.  The landlord agreed to address the problems, but nothing happened.

With no other options available, we  advised our clients not  to pay rent to the landlord. We kept their rent in a segregated account.  The landlord sued: we defended.  When we had our day in court, subpoenaed the health officer to testify, and presented the facts, we were able to demonstrate that the landlord had violated the Lease and was not entitled to rent until the health code violations were rectified. The landlord has finally responded, and the problems have been rectified. The women are not vacating the apartment. We are confident that the landlord has learned a lesson and will take better care of health and safety issues in the future.

What we proposed to our clients was risky. Self-help is generally not recognized in our judicial system as a means of protest. But, we prevailed in this instance because the facts were so decidely on our side. It is cases like this which make the practice of law gratifying. Helping others help themselves gives one a good feeling