Metrowest MA Communities

Legal News

• Smart Growth Comprehensive Zoning Reform Bill On The Fast Track To Passage?
  58 Legislators Pushing Comprehensive Zoning Reform Bill “Inclusionary Zoning” Provision May Expand Controversial 40B Law With “Smart Growth” advocates strongly behind them, a cadre of Beacon Hill lawmakers are pushing a controversial bill that for the first time in 37 years would comprehensively overhaul state law governing municipal zoning, subdivision cont […]
• Tenant Paralyzed In Tragic Backyard Kiddie Pool Accident Gets New Trial From SJC
  Landlords Could Be Held Responsible for Tenant Paralyzed Jumping from Trampoline into Kiddie Pool I don’t write a lot about premises liability in this blog, but this tragic case out of my hometown of Framingham may be a classic example of the saying that “hard cases make bad law.“ The Supreme Judicial Court has granted a […]
• Breaking: SJC Rules Four-Person Student Apartment Not Illegal “Lodging House”
  Ruling Calls Into Question Boston Ordinance Prohibiting 5 or More Students In One Unit Those screams you are hearing now on Comm. Ave. aren’t the students. They are the landlords who are undoubtedly rejoicing upon news that the Supreme Judicial Court just issued a major ruling in how student rentals occupancy limits  – indeed all […]
• Escrow Holdbacks: A Lifebuoy For A Troubled Closing
  You have been eagerly awaiting the closing of your new construction home, but alas, the builder has not been able to complete the landscaping, walkway and driveway by the closing and there is a two page punch-list of other incomplete work. You have already hired a moving company and packed all of your family’s stuff. […]
• SJC Rules Commercial Landlord Cannot Recover Future Rents Under Older Lease
  Case Highlights Importance of Rent Acceleration Clause In Commercial Leases In a decision underscoring the importance of careful commercial lease drafting, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that a commercial landlord must wait out a 12 year lease term to recover unpaid rent from a tenant who abandoned the premises in year 2 of […]