Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Massachusetts
Lease
My husband and I have been living in a rented (leased all this time) duplex house with the landlords daughter on one side and us on the other side. These are two single dwelling units with no adjoining hallsways or doors or ventilation. In the past 13 years my husband and I have had a lease with the landlord and there has never been a smoking issue until we brought forth a lawsuit against the landlord for cross metering. Smoking is my only vice. Rent has always been paid on time. Now, due to the fact of a flood and a pending lawsuit the landlord has now changed the lease which expired back in November of 2007 to now adding a stipulation that there be no smoking in our unit. This is a duplex house with the landlords daughter being on the A side and us being on the B side. To us this is retailiation but right now we are Tenants at Will. Landlord also wants to increase rent while lawsuit is pending. Can he do this? Also never restored flooded area to previous conditions when we first rented! This flood occured from the landlords daughter and NOT US! The only way we would be able to sign a lease if we claim that we won't smoke IN the HOME. Is this or is this not retaliation????
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Lease
I would refuse to sign the lease and continue to pay rent. If there is a legal action already going to which you are a party, you may want to amend it to allege this attempt at coercion.
Re: Lease
I tend to believe the terms of the lease are retaliation. If you have a case pending, I would amend the case to include a claim for retaliation and refuse to sign the lease unless smoking is permitted.
The Landlord cannot arbitrarily raise the rent. If you already have an attorney, he should be able to handle this for you.
Good Luck
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