Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Massachusetts
Me and my friends moved into a new house which is valued at 4.5million usd prior to the housing crash and is now valued at 1.7 million usd. Last week two water damages occurred in the house which were not cause by extensive use of the toilets or showers by us but rather by a malfunctioning sewage system, which was installed by the owner of the house who is a contractor and built the house himself. The owner of the house highlighted that there could be problems with the sewage system but it was never clear it would be to this extent. Does he have the right to terminate the lease based on this or is he obliged to fix the sewage system. I mentioned the value of the house in order to show that a tenant could expect a working sewage system.
2 Answers from Attorneys
If the leak was caused by you intentionally then the landlord can evict you. If it was due to normal use, then the landlord cannot. You should call the board of health for the town you are in and they should make the landlord repair the system.
I agree that you should contact the local board of health and have them come out to do a site visit. If there are violations of the housing and sanitary codes, they will force the landlord to fix the problem. If you are evicted within 6 months of reporting an unsafe or unsanitary condition, the landlord's eviction will be presumed to be unlawfully retaliatory.
If you did not cause the damage, you may be entitled to withold rent until the problem is fixed by the landlord. Call the board of health first and see what you are dealing with. You may want to retain an attorney so that you are ready if the landlord escalates.
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