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Eviction Settlement Agreements. A number of weeks in the past, the Supreme Judicial Court docket issued an necessary resolution regarding eviction settlement agreements. The total resolution, Darcey v. Burgess, is included beneath.
The info of the case are pretty easy. A tenant filed a lawsuit in Housing Court docket in opposition to his landlord, claiming his house had a bedbug infestation, and requested that the court docket order the owner to handle this matter. Importantly, this was not an eviction case however a civil matter introduced by the tenant.
The owner and tenant participated in a mediation and agreed that the tenant would vacate the house in change for a month of free lease.
The tenant didn’t vacate the house and challenged the validity of this eviction settlement settlement. The tenant argued that (1) a court docket can’t award possession of a rental house outdoors of an eviction case and (2) the tenant had a psychological incapacity that permitted him to get out of this settlement settlement.
Possession in a Non-Eviction Case
The Court docket dominated that Housing Court docket was permitted to award possession of a rental house outdoors of an eviction case. Right here, evictions (formally referred to as “abstract course of” instances in Massachusetts) are the standard technique of evicting a tenant. Nevertheless, possession points can come up in non-eviction instances, similar to when a landlord is defending in opposition to a lawsuit {that a} tenant initiated.
Right here, the Court docket dominated that requiring the owner to begin one other case made little sense when the events had already resolved the matter. As a result of Housing Court docket might undisputedly decide issues of possession involving rental flats, it had a proper to implement this settlement settlement.
It’s vital to notice that circumstances like this are exceptionally uncommon. If a landlord desires possession of a rental house, there are virtually at all times higher off submitting an eviction case in opposition to the tenant.
Capability to Enter Into Eviction Settlement Agreements
The tenant additionally argued that the Court docket ought to put aside the settlement settlement as a result of the tenant had an alleged psychological sickness. Whereas the Court docket agreed that such an settlement may very well be undone if a celebration lacked psychological capability, right here, the tenant confirmed no medical proof of getting a qualifying incapacity.
Years in the past, I defended a home-owner who was taken to court docket in a dispute over a contract he signed to promote the property. I acquired the case dismissed by displaying medical information that the house owner suffered from dementia and different impairments that impacted his capacity to make legally binding agreements. Proof like that is vital for a protection {that a} get together didn’t perceive what they had been signing.
Closing Ideas
This case demonstrates the complexities of landlord-tenant legislation. For those who want help with such a authorized matter, contact me for a session.
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