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DRAFT FOR ATTORNEY REVIEW — NOT FINAL

Doe v. New Bedford Housing Authority, 630 N.E.2d 248 (1994)

Citation
Doe v. New Bedford Housing Authority, 630 N.E.2d 248 (1994)
Parent Document
Doe v. New Bedford Housing Authority, 630 N.E.2d 248 (1994)
Jurisdiction
Massachusetts (state)
Effective Date
1994-03-14

Other Sections in This Document (121)

Full Text

1,134 chars
Indeed, the New Jersey court held that the warranty of habitability obliges the landlord to “furnish reasonable safeguards to protect tenants from foreseeable criminal activity on the premises," and that the landlord breached this obligation by failing to secure the front door in any way. Trentacost, supra at 228. Under this standard (which we need not adopt for the purposes of this case), we cannot say, based on the record before us, that the defendant here did not take reasonable steps to provide for tenant security as required by the warranty of habitability (there is no allegation that the buildings themselves were not secure; there was adequate lighting in outdoor areas; the defendant had made an agreement with the local police under which the police would patrol the premises regularly). We note, however, that, even if the landlord’s obligations are limited under the warranty of habitability, they are not necessarily likewise limited under the other theories asserted by the plaintiffs. See our discussion of G. L. c. 121B, §§ 32C and 32D, supra at 276-279, and of the covenant of quiet enjoyment, infra at 284-288.