A tenant who signed a mediated agreement to move out, and then tried to challenge it more than a year later, lost her appeal. The Appeals Court dismissed her appeal from the agreed judgment as untimely and upheld the denial of her motion to reconsider, noting that agreements approved by a Housing Court judge are binding court orders. This is an unpublished Appeals Court decision under Rule 23.0, which courts may cite as persuasive but not as binding precedent.
What happened
The landlords filed an eviction case in September 2022. In November 2022 the tenant, who had a lawyer, went to mediation with a housing specialist and signed an agreement for judgment. It gave the landlords possession, gave her until July 31, 2023 to move, waived all claims and counterclaims, and waived all rights of appeal. A judge approved it and judgment entered on November 28, 2022. When she had not moved by August 2023, the landlords sought an execution. The judge gave her a stay until November 1, 2023 and said no further stays would be allowed. She moved out in early November 2023. In January 2024, now without a lawyer, she filed a motion to move back in and to reconsider the judgment, which was denied, and she appealed.
What the court decided
The Appeals Court dismissed the appeal from the judgment and affirmed the order denying reconsideration. Gill v. Cornacchio, No. 24-P-265 (Mass. App. Ct. May 30, 2025) (Rule 23.0 decision).
The appeal from the judgment was too late. The court assumed her notice of appeal covered the November 2022 judgment. But a notice of appeal generally must be filed within thirty days after the judgment enters. Mass. R. A. P. 4. She filed well over a year later, did not ask for leave to file late, and none of the rule’s tolling provisions applied. So the court had to dismiss that part of the appeal. The court measured her appeal against the thirty-day Rule 4 deadline, and she missed it by more than a year.
The reconsideration appeal had no argument. Denial of a motion to reconsider is reviewed only for abuse of discretion. The tenant’s brief made no legal argument that the judge abused that discretion, and an appellate court need not decide issues that are not argued in the brief. Mass. R. A. P. 16 (a) (9) (A). The court said it was sympathetic to the struggles of an evicted tenant, but there was nothing to consider.
The judge acted within his discretion anyway. The motion judge could weigh that the tenant, with a lawyer, took part in Housing Court mediation and signed a facially valid agreement to vacate, and that she offered no reason why relief was warranted. Agreements reached in Housing Court and approved by a judge become binding court orders. Adjartey v. Central Div. of the Hous. Court Dep’t, 481 Mass. 830 (2019); Boston Hous. Auth. v. Cassio, 428 Mass. 112 (1998).
What this means for you
An agreement for judgment is not a casual promise. Once a judge approves it, it is a court judgment you are bound by. If it says you waive claims and appeals, you are giving those up. Read every line before you sign, even if you have a lawyer and the mediator says it is a good deal.
If you think the agreement was unfair, or you signed it under pressure or without understanding it, act fast. Waiting until after you move out, or months after the judgment, makes relief very hard. Appeal deadlines are measured in days, not months, and missing them usually ends the appeal. The court here applied the thirty-day deadline in Rule 4. Separately, G.L. c. 239, § 5 sets a ten-day deadline to appeal a summary process judgment, a point this decision did not address. Do not assume you have thirty days.
If you do appeal, your brief has to explain why the judge was wrong and cite the law. Telling the court your story is not enough on its own.
What to do now
- Before signing an agreement in Housing Court, read it fully and ask what each term means, especially waivers and move-out dates.
- Keep a copy of the signed agreement and write down every deadline in it.
- If you cannot meet a move-out date, ask the court for more time before the date passes, and explain why.
- If you want to challenge the agreement or a judgment, talk to a lawyer the same week. Appeal and motion deadlines are short.
- If you appeal, make sure your brief states specific legal errors with citations to law and the record.
If this is your situation, call Doubleday Law at (617) 575-2006 or tell us what happened. Housing Court deadlines are short.
