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DRAFT FOR ATTORNEY REVIEW — NOT FINAL

Scott v. Garfield, 454 Mass. 790 (2009)

Citation
Scott v. Garfield, 454 Mass. 790 (2009)
Parent Document
Scott v. Garfield, 454 Mass. 790 (2009)
Jurisdiction
Massachusetts (state)
Effective Date
2009-09-15

Other Sections in This Document (57)

Full Text

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Our conclusion that lawful visitors, like tenants, may recover for personal injuries caused by breach of the implied warranty of habitability rests, in part, on the expectation that a tenant might invite a guest into his home, and the concomitant expectation that the tenant’s home must be safe for a guest to visit — which together go to the very heart of the landlord’s contractual *795obligation to deliver and maintain habitable premises that comply with the building and sanitary codes. Our conclusion is consistent with the State sanitary code itself, which provides that the purposes of the minimum standards of fitness for human habitation are to “protect the health, safety and well-being of the occupants of housing and of the general public” (emphasis added). 105 Code Mass. Regs. § 410.001 (1997). A lawful visitor of an “occupant of housing” plainly comes within the scope of persons intended to be protected and therefore also within the ambit of the implied warranty of habitability while on the rented premises.