In our overly litigious society, it is said that anyone can sue anyone for anything. The volunteers serving on condominium association boards sometimes feel as if they can be sued by almost everyone for almost everything – an overstatement, perhaps, but an understandable one. It is certainly true that condo owners are not always happy with the decisions boards make and it is also true that some owners express their dissatisfaction with board members by suing them.

A tenant renting a unit in our community plays loud music late at night, about which neighbors complain constantly. We’ve informed the tenant that he is creating a nuisance, to no avail. The unit’s owner says he will deal with the issue but hasn’t done so and is no longer responding to our e-mails and calls. What can be done?

The United States Treasury Department announced Sunday that new rules will be issued shortly that will require only foreign companies to file under the CTA. Further, no enforcement action and/or fines will be taken against any U.S. Citizen or any domestic reporting companies. New rules will be announced in the coming days or weeks.

In addition to its Condominium Practice, our firm has an entire department dedicated to the representation of both commercial and residential landlords. Specifically, MEEB’s Landlord-Tenant attorneys specialize in advising Landlords, as well as Property Managers, on all aspects of a tenant’s tenancy, which includes but is not limited to: drafting Lease Agreements/Occupancy Agreements, enforcement of lease terms, processing security deposits and last month’s rent, terminating tenancies, drafting Notices to Quit (nonpayment of rent, nonrenewal of tenancies, termination of tenancies at will, and for-cause lease violations), securing emergency rental assistance, compliance with Federal Housing Regulations (including Section 8), and cooperative housing evictions. In particular, from mediations to Summary Process trials, MEEB’s Landlord-Tenant attorneys litigate eviction actions in all Massachusetts Housing Courts.

At the end of the 2023/2024 legislative session, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed a comprehensive climate and clean energy legislation, An Act promoting a clean energy grid, advancing equity and protecting ratepayers. Included in the bill were two significant changes to the Massachusetts Condominium Act.

“Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never harm me.” We’ve all heard that adage and condominium board members may have more reason than most to repeat it. Boards can’t please everyone all the time and there are times when they can’t seem to please anyone ever. There’s nothing new about that. Criticism is part of the board member’s job. But in the condominium world, the criticism has become increasingly harsh, offensive, nasty and sometimes even threatening – words hurled with the force of sticks and stones.

At the close of the last Legislation Session, the Rhode Island Condominium Act § 34-36.1-3.06 was amended, effective upon passage, to require any current applicable By-Laws and Rules and Regulations to be recorded with the Land Evidence Records Department in the City or Town where the Condominium is located.

A Massachusetts Appeals Court has rejected a long-standing interpretation of the Massachusetts state statute (which prohibits housing-related discrimination) that required condo associations in many cases to pay for common area modifications requested by disabled owners and residents.

The holidays arrived early for one of our condominium association clients, which found $22,000 that belonged to it on the list of unclaimed property held by the State Treasurer’s Office.  The money was in the form of a bank CD the board had not been able to redeem.   

Residents of a Cape Code manufactured housing community (a/k/a mobile home park) appear to have won a five-year legal battle to purchase their community.  At trial, a Superior Court judge ruled that the residents had not met the procedural requirements for exercising their statutory right of first refusal provided under the state Manufactured Housing Act, clearing the way for an investor to purchase the park.  But on appeal, the Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled that the Superior Court erred on several key points of law and fact.  The Appeals Court remanded the case back to the lower court and ordered the judge to correct the errors and issue a new ruling based on those corrections.