The Massachusetts Appeals Court upheld a Housing Court order refusing to let an occupant join an eviction case brought against other people living in the same apartment. She did not provide the hearing transcript needed to review that ruling, and because she was not named, the case could not evict her, so it did not put her interest at risk in the way intervention requires. This is an unpublished Appeals Court decision under Rule 23.0, which courts may cite as persuasive but not as binding precedent.
What happened
A landlord brought a summary process (eviction) case in the Housing Court against two named defendants. A woman who said she lived in the apartment asked to intervene, meaning to join the case as a party. After a hearing, the judge denied her motion because she offered no evidence of a tenancy with the landlord: no signed lease, no proof of rent payments, and no written communications from the landlord showing a tenancy. She filed a renewed motion, which also asked for a protective order and removal of a no-trespass order, and the judge denied it based on the earlier ruling. She appealed. The landlord also filed a separate eviction case against her.
What the court decided
In Lenox Farms Limited Partnership v. Kassem, No. 25-P-907 (Mass. App. Ct. October 15, 2026) (Rule 23.0 decision), the Appeals Court affirmed the order denying intervention.
An order denying intervention as of right can be appealed right away. Reznik v. Garaffo, 466 Mass. 1034 (2013). Under Mass. R. Civ. P. 24 (a), a person may intervene as of right only if the request is timely, the person has an interest in the property or transaction at issue, the outcome may as a practical matter impair that interest, and the existing parties do not adequately represent it. The judge’s factual findings on those points are reviewed for clear error, and whether the facts meet the rule is a question of law. Galbi v. Cellco Partnership, 101 Mass. App. Ct. 260 (2022).
The first problem was the record. The occupant did not give the Appeals Court a transcript of the hearing where her first motion was decided. Without it, the court had no way to tell whether she had shown an interest, a risk to that interest, or timeliness. It is the appellant’s job to provide the parts of the record the appeal depends on, and the Supreme Judicial Court has said the transcript requirement is not a hypertechnical rule. Covell v. Department of Social Servs., 439 Mass. 766 (2003).
The second problem went to the merits. The court agreed she had a real interest in her own right to live in the apartment. But a judge in an eviction case cannot evict someone who was not named in it. The court relied on 21st Mtge. Corp. v. DeMustchine, 100 Mass. App. Ct. 792 (2022), where a judgment against a named occupant did not decide the landlord’s right to possession against another occupant who was not named. Even if the judge had found that her presence was a reason to end the named defendants’ tenancy, that finding would have no force against her.
So the case against the named defendants would not impair her interest. The landlord had to bring, and did bring, a separate case against her. The court added that, in that separate case, the landlord could rely only on findings from her own motion to intervene, the one proceeding where she fully participated. The appeal of a related single justice order was dismissed as moot.
What this means for you
If you live in a home but are not named in an eviction case against someone else there, that case cannot be used to remove you. The landlord has to bring a separate case naming you, and you get to defend it.
There is also a trap. Trying to join someone else’s case is not always helpful. Findings a judge makes on your motion to intervene may follow you into your own case. If you bring that motion without proof of your tenancy, such as a lease, rent receipts, or messages from the landlord, you may end up with findings against you.
Finally, if you appeal, you must give the appeals court the record it needs, including transcripts of key hearings. Without them, the court may affirm without reaching your arguments.
What to do now
- Gather proof of your tenancy: a lease, rent receipts, bank records, texts or emails with the landlord, and mail showing the address.
- Read any court papers carefully to see who is named. If you are not named, ask a lawyer whether joining the case helps or hurts you.
- If the landlord files a case against you, answer on time and raise every defense you have in that case.
- If you plan to appeal, order the hearing transcripts right away and include them in the record.
- Do not ignore a no-trespass order or similar order. Ask the court in a case where you are a party to address it.
If this is your situation, call Doubleday Law at (617) 575-2006 or tell us what happened. Housing Court deadlines are short.
