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DRAFT FOR ATTORNEY REVIEW — NOT FINAL

Leardi v. Brown, 474 N.E.2d 1094 (1985)

Citation
Leardi v. Brown, 474 N.E.2d 1094 (1985)
Parent Document
Leardi v. Brown, 474 N.E.2d 1094 (1985)
Jurisdiction
Massachusetts (state)
Effective Date
1985-02-28

Other Sections in This Document (103)

Full Text

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General Laws c. 93 A requires an injury before an award of even nominal damages is justified. The only injury at issue here involves the leaseholder’s right to be free from deceptive clauses in a rental agreement. Accordingly, only those who were tenants on or after September 1, 1980, and who were either a party to the illegal lease agreement, or who were asked to sign the agreement, have been injured under c. 93A. This result is consistent with the contents of the plaintiffs’ demand letter, which was sent only on behalf of “all tenants . . . who have signed, or who have been asked to sign” leases incorporating illegal provisions. Of course, if the landlord had attempted to enforce an illegal provision against any occupant, then such occupant, regardless of whether he or she had signed the lease, may well have been injured and thus would be entitled to damages. Moreover, all occupants may well have been entitled to recover if injured by a breach of the implied warranty of habitability. But these are not the circumstances present here. The case presents an injury to the leaseholder, and thus damages are to be awarded on a leasehold basis. 13 f. Adequacy of the Demand Letter.