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DRAFT FOR ATTORNEY REVIEW — NOT FINAL

Homesavers Council of Greenfield Gardens, Inc. v. Sanchez, 70 Mass. App. Ct. 453 (2007)

Citation
Homesavers Council of Greenfield Gardens, Inc. v. Sanchez, 70 Mass. App. Ct. 453 (2007) 2.
Parent Document
Homesavers Council of Greenfield Gardens, Inc. v. Sanchez, 70 Mass. App. Ct. 453 (2007)
Jurisdiction
Massachusetts (state)
Effective Date
2007-10-10

Other Sections in This Document (33)

Full Text

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2. General Laws c. 186, § 14: emotional distress. At the outset, the landlord’s argument that the evidence was insufficient to demonstrate the intentional infliction of emotional distress is misplaced. The counterclaim on which the tenant prevailed was not one for intentional infliction of emotional distress, but rather one alleging interference with quiet enjoyment, a statutory violation. See G. L. c. 186, § 14, as amended by St. 1974, c. 192, § 1 (“any lessor or landlord who directly or indirectly interferes with the quiet enjoyment of any residential premises by the occupant . . . shall... be hable for actual and consequential damages or three month’s rent, whichever is greater, and the costs of the action, including a reasonable attorney’s fee”). Having found that the landlord violated the statute by wrongfully transferring the tenant’s section 8 rent subsidy and then subjecting the tenant to eviction proceedings for failure to pay a new, unlawfully calculated rent, a finding not challenged by the landlord, the judge determined that the landlord’s violation caused the tenant emotional distress, and that such emotional distress was com-pensable as reasonably foreseeable consequential damages.