Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Massachusetts

Re: Withholding Rent

It certainly doesn't seem like a good idea for me.

Prorating a month is not the norm under any lease or

even under a tenancy-at-will; by contrast, a single

day in an apartment generally obligates you to pay

the rent for the month that contains that day (whether

it's a calendar month or some other date within each month).

Also, while you try to pocket the 10% of one month's rent,

the landlord is spending much more than that to have it

painted (and isn't sending you a bill for it!) to make you

happy. It's certainly a bad way to start off the tenancy

and legally it isn't justified.

When some emergency arises and as a result

you can't live in the place for a

week or two, you could potentially get a refund of the rent for that

month on a pro rata basis. Here there was a planned situation which

you'd agreed to in advance and you didn't raise the issue of a rent

abatement at the time you made the agreement. As my Italian friends

say to me, "Fu-geta bow-dit!"