Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Massachusetts

Landlord locks tenant out, disregarding restraining order- only allowed tenant into apartment to take things out, when tenant was not able to take all property at time specified, tenants property was thrown out. Tenant had lived in the apartment for 5 yrs. and had moved in with a roommate and had received verbal permission from landlord - tenant was under an at-will contract that expired a week before the lockout - tenant was locked out on a month tenant had paid for. Landlord asserts subleasing, was only a tenant at-will contract and provided roommate statement of affidavit as proof. Tenant represented self for lack of money and had asked for a trial by jury- but it was ignored and tried by a judge. The Judge granted summary judgment for landlords� attorney. Is there anything else tenant could do to get justice?


Asked on 8/06/13, 12:48 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Adam Phipps The Law Office of Adam Phipps

First, get a landlord/tenant attorney. If the facts are as stated, most landlord/tenant attorney's would have handled this on a contingent fee basis and the tenant would have paid only the costs of the trial upfront.

Once a case has gone to judgment you have to ask the court to remove the judgment and allow a new trial, there are generally specific time restrictions and there has to be a reason for the court to do so. This would be a difficult process for a pro se litigant to navigate and this would be separate from the original landlord/tenant case, so would be out of pocket for the former tenant.

That said, a lot depends on what the judgment actually says.

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Answered on 8/08/13, 7:37 am


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