Help terminating lease from building with multiple code violations?

Asked in Worcester, MA - over 1 year

landlord does not maintain property as he should by massachusetts law multiple safety risks, rodent infestation, yet he knows the system and has not been penalized for it. has not hired exterminator, little to no effort on repairs (ex. front stairs falling apart due to wrong "cheap" materials could pose risk of extreme injury possibly death when they finally go) i need a way to take him to court and give him nothing to stand on.

Attorney Answers (2)

Erik Hammarlund

Vineyard Haven Employment / Labor Attorney

Licensed in MA

0

Answered over 1 year ago. You might want to look here, to start:
http://www.masslegalhelp.org/housing/legal-tact...

Depending on your willingness to escalate, you should also contact an attorney. You may be able to recover rent.

Do you want accurate, personalized, legal advice that you can rely on? You will have to hire an attorney, not ask... more

Flag

Mark as helpful

Christopher Saccardi

Somerville Landlord / Tenant Lawyer

Licensed in MA

0

Answered over 1 year ago. If you haven't already, you may also want to consider withholding rent due to the poor conditions in the apartment. This can often have the effect of giving a landlord new urgency to deal with problems. It can also encourage a landlord to start an eviction which may be a good thing in your case since at that point you could bring all of your counterclaims and defenses against him, including retaliation for bringing the eviction as a result of your lawful rent withholding. I agree with Erik that you should probably consult an attorney to determine exactly what defenses and counterclaims might be available to you as well as whether it might be a good idea to withhold rent in your particular situation, and if so, how best to go about doing so. Good luck!

The response given is not intended to create, nor does it create an ongoing duty to respond to questions. The... more