Beacon Residential Management, LP v. R.P., 477 Mass. 749 (2017)

Citation: Beacon Residential Management, LP v. R.P., 477 Mass. 749 (2017)
Parent Document: Beacon Residential Management, LP v. R.P., 477 Mass. 749 (2017)
Jurisdiction: Massachusetts (state)
Effective Date: 2017-09-14
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/4426085/beacon-residential-management-lp-v-rp/ ↗

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       The unqualified judgment of default against R.P. means
that if the lower court decision stands, the children will be
forced to move. Normally, where minor children are living in an
apartment with one parent, the question whether they have an
interest sufficient to intervene is irrelevant because the
parent is presumably an adequate representative of their
interests. Here, however, R.P. was barred from contact with the
children as a result of the 209A order, and he failed to appear
in court. That does not automatically mean that the children
have no recourse to prevent eviction. Cf. Arsenault v. Chicopee
Hous. Auth., 15 Mass. App. Ct. 939, 941 (1983) (where custodial
parent abandoned child and apartment, child who was lawful
occupant could assert right to grievance procedures before
eviction, even if success on merits was not guaranteed).
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       As the 209A order against R.P. awarded sole custody of
the children to the mother, it is appropriate for her to be the
one to intervene on their behalf. Cf. Mass. R. Civ. P. 17 (b),
as appearing in 454 Mass. 1402, 1402-1403 (2009); Arsenault, 15
Mass. App. Ct. at 939-940 (natural father brought action on
child's behalf as next friend). In this case we find that any
potential deficiencies in the mother's claims asserted in
support of her motion to intervene as a party in her own right
do not prevent her from meeting her threshold burden to
intervene in her representative capacity on behalf of the two
children. Moreover, as discussed supra, these are issues that
should be properly resolved on the merits in the summary process
proceeding itself.
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