Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Massachusetts
Illegal apartment - tenant entitled to recover all rent?
I was recently forced to consult with my local Board of Health about an unsafe condition present in my apartment in Massachusetts. When I told the inspector that I lived in a basement unit, he suggested that the apartment may not be legitimate. I did some investigating at City Hall and discovered that my building is only zoned for 3 families, and I occupy the 4th ''family'', or rented unit, in the buidling. I heard that in this case I may be entitled to recover all of the rent I ever paid, since the landlord had no legal right to collect it in the first place. Is this true? If so, how cut-and-dry a case would it be?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Illegal apartment - tenant entitled to recover all rent?
Excellent question, well-written.
Unfortunately, I don't think it is cut-and-dry. Your attorney will cite the law that points to that result and offer it as cut-and-dry to the Court, but obviously you benefitted from living there and are not necessarily entitled to a huge windfall either.
If he didn't have the right to collect rent, you also didn't have the right to live there and you don't currently have the right to stay very long under that theory. It's a tricky area.
How long have you been there and how much money are you talking about, in total? Are you prepared to move out if it would get you a lot of money?
You ought to, I think, hire a lawyer expert in the area of landlord / tenant. Let me know if I can help.
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