Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Massachusetts
addition to the lease
For 13 years my husband and I have lived in a duplex house with the landlords daughter next door. Our side has 3 bedrooms and landlords daughter side has 2 bedrooms. My husband and I are BOTH SMOKERS and has been for over 30 years. The lease has never had any changes in the past until now. The landlord wants to add a NO SMOKING IN THE HOME clause after all these years. Is he able to do this? Since our family has decreased from 5 to 3 and her family increased from 2 to 5 we believe this is a way of forcing us out so they can move into our unit. We are currently renewing our lease for 1 year next tuesday on 7/10/2007. The main question -- do we have to adhere to this or can we be forced out. We live out in the country in which there is ONE DUPLEX on 62 acres with adequate ventilation. They say they can smell our cigarette smoke but we have a wood stove which is constantly burning and they have a fire pit outside on their side of the property. I feel this is a reason for us to vacate. We do not wish to move and have lived here since 1994 and our son wants to graduate from here in 4 years from now. This has never been brought up until now since the lease needs to be resigned. Our total rent to date is 99,700. not including utilities
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: addition to the lease
THe landlord can not alter the arrangement in mid-lease, if you have an annual lease. If you are a tenant at will, he can alter the terms, to the extent lawful.
I am not aware that any law protects tenants' rights to smoke in a unit. An argument might well be made that this is a legal affront to your right to quiet enjoyment of the property. THe added fact that this is a rare unit at all, and family-owned, complicates that.
The best answer is that you can test this in court. If another attorney here knows more than do I on this specific subject, his or her input would be helpful.
Re: addition to the lease
As attorney Lee indicated, this presents a tough question. There are compelling factual arguments that could be made on either side if you wanted to test this before a judge.
However, if their motivation was simply to get you to leave the premises, all they would have to do is not renew the lease. They have no legal obligation to keep you on as tenants, and they could simply ask you to move on.
If the landlord's daughter is living next door and, as you say, her family is getting larger, they may have legitimate reasons (children, infants) for wanting to remove cigarette smoke from the property.
You should have a sit-down with the landlord and family and see what they really want. Maybe a compromise can be reached, or maybe you can be given time to find a new place to live.
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