A few\u00a0months ago, I received a call from a client whose daughter lived with three other women in an apartment.\u00a0 The landlord, who had a chain of apartments in the Greater Boston area, was being neglectful.\u00a0 There was a rodent problem, a leak in the ceiling persisted, and in this winter of winters, the heating system often failed.\u00a0 Phone calls, letters, threats of non-payment of rent all were ignored.\u00a0 In desperation, we were called upon to try to make the situation better.<\/p>\n
The women wanted to remain in the apartment.\u00a0 They all taught school in the local area.\u00a0 They were friends and had found a location that was suitable.\u00a0 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”.<\/strong>\u00a0 We started off with normal channels.\u00a0 We wrote a certified letter to the landlord, requesting a forum to explain the problems.\u00a0 This was unanswered.\u00a0 We sent another letter and advised the landlord that if remedial action was not commenced, we would advise our clients to withhold rent.\u00a0 Again, no response.\u00a0 We informed the health officers in the town involved and requested that they inspect the alleged problems.\u00a0 They conducted an inspection and cited the landlord for health code violations.\u00a0 The landlord agreed to address the problems, but nothing happened.<\/p>\n With no other options available, we\u00a0\u00a0advised our clients not\u00a0 to pay rent to the landlord. We\u00a0kept their rent in a segregated account.\u00a0 The landlord sued: we defended.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n What we proposed to our clients was risky. Self-help is generally not\u00a0recognized in our judicial system as a means of protest. But, we prevailed in\u00a0this 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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A few\u00a0months ago, I received a call from a client whose daughter lived with three other women in an apartment.\u00a0 The landlord, who had a chain of apartments in the Greater Boston area, was being neglectful.\u00a0 There was a rodent problem, a leak in the ceiling persisted, and in this winter of winters, the heating … Continue reading The Case of the Victimized School Teachers–Sometimes You just have to say “what the Heck!!!”<\/span>