Not eight months with no good reason. The Appeals Court affirmed a Housing Court ruling that a landlord breached the warranty of habitability and the covenant of quiet enjoyment by waiting more than eight months, after written notice, to fix a rotted kitchen floor, and that the tenant’s damages could be set off against unpaid rent. This is an unpublished Appeals Court decision under Rule 23.0, which courts may cite as persuasive but not as binding precedent.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 tenant signed a one year lease in Chelsea starting in October 2022, at $2,670 a month. When he moved in, the kitchen floor by the washing machine was water damaged, rotted and puckering. About two weeks later he emailed the landlord’s management a signed notice of condition reporting the rot. A work order was opened in February 2023 and someone looked at the floor, but nothing was fixed. After the tenant sent a demand letter in June 2023, the landlord began scheduling a repair. The city’s inspectional services department cited the floor in July, and the whole kitchen floor was replaced in mid August 2023, after some back and forth over dates. Meanwhile the tenant did not pay July rent, and the landlord served a notice to quit and filed an eviction for nonpayment.
What the court decided
After trial, the judge found the tenant owed $13,350 in rent but awarded him $8,010, equal to three months’ rent, on his counterclaims. That left $5,340 owed, plus interest and costs. The tenant paid within seven days, so he kept possession. The Appeals Court affirmed in One North of Boston LLC v. Thakkar, No. 24-P-756 (Mass. App. Ct. July 11, 2025) (Rule 23.0 decision).
Warranty of habitability. Whether a breach is material is a question of fact in each case. Boston Hous. Auth. v. Hemingway, 363 Mass. 184 (1973). A judge may consider how long the defect lasted, whether and when the landlord had notice, and how hard it was to fix. Jablonski v. Casey, 64 Mass. App. Ct. 744 (2005). The evidence supported the findings that the landlord had written notice in October 2022 and did not replace the floor until August 2023. The judge also found the rot was not a mere technical code violation. It was a safety risk that affected the tenant’s ability to move safely around his own apartment. As the judge put it, a minor problem grew larger because of the landlord’s inaction.
Covenant of quiet enjoyment. A landlord breaches this covenant through acts or omissions that impair the value of the rental. Cruz Mgt. Co. v. Thomas, 417 Mass. 782 (1994). The interference must be serious enough to substantially impair the character and value of the premises. Rahman v. Federal Mgt. Co., 23 Mass. App. Ct. 701 (1987). The tenant must also show the landlord had notice of the defect and failed to fix it. Al-Ziab v. Mourgis, 424 Mass. 847 (1997). The court looks at the landlord’s conduct, not its intentions. The landlord may have moved quickly after late June 2023, and the tenant caused some scheduling delay after that. But the landlord gave no reasonable explanation for the eight months before. The judge also noted the landlord could have offered a temporary fix while waiting for a full replacement. In Massachusetts, the quiet enjoyment statute, G.L. c. 186, § 14, allows a tenant actual damages or three months’ rent, whichever is greater.
The judge also found a short delay in replacing a broken water heater was a breach, but based the damages on the floor because that award was larger.
What this means for you
A written notice of condition at move in mattered here. It set the date the clock started, and the landlord could not explain away the months that followed. Repairs that drag on can turn a small problem into a legal violation.
Be honest with yourself about the limits, though. The tenant still owed most of the rent. His damages reduced the balance; they did not erase it. He kept his home because he paid the remaining amount within seven days of judgment. The court also noted that the tenant’s own scheduling played a part in the last stretch of delay, so cooperate with reasonable repair dates and keep a record of them.
What to do now
- Give your landlord written notice of every defect, with dates and photos, and keep a copy.
- If repairs stall, follow up in writing and ask your local board of health or inspectional services for an inspection.
- Agree to reasonable repair dates and note any that you need to move.
- Before you hold back rent, get advice on the rules. If you are sued, raise your repair claims as defenses and counterclaims.
- Be ready to pay any balance the court finds owing quickly so you can keep possession.
If this is your situation, call Doubleday Law at (617) 575-2006 or tell us what happened. Housing Court deadlines are short.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
