Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Massachusetts

ed lease, found fault with cottage and left

I rented my beach cottage (thru an agent) for the month of Aug. The tenant signed a 1-month lease, sight unseen, and paid in full. She immediately found a whole list of faults with the house (most of which could be corrected with minor spot painting), then promptly left. Her major complaint was that the house had a musty, damp smell (common for a beach house that had been closed up for several days), but I know in my bones the real reason was her realization that the cottage had no a/c. The kicker, though, is the agent seems to be siding with the tenant, even though I've pointed out that I was renting a beach cottage, not a condo on 5th Avenue. To top if off, the agent added she thought the house actually smelled like an animal! I don't know what that is supposed to mean - maybe a squirrel decided to crawl into the attic to die - who knows?

I do think, though, that it is a tenant's responsibility to check out a house before signing a lease. I also believe a tenant is required to notify the owner of any problems with the place and to give the owner the opportunity to rectify the problems as long as there is sufficient time during the lease term to do so. Am I right, and does this provision have to be written in the lease?

1 Answer from Attorneys

Related Questions & Answers

More Landlord & Tenants questions and answers in Massachusetts

Looking for something else?