If you let an appeal be dismissed, the Supreme Judicial Court generally will not use its special superintendence power to give you a second chance. The court did not decide who may live in subsidized senior housing. It affirmed the denial of special relief to a man ordered by the Housing Court to stop living in his father’s subsidized apartment, because he had another remedy, an appeal, and lost it by not filing a brief. This is a published decision of the Supreme Judicial Court and is binding statewide.
What happened
The father rents an apartment in Randolph under a project-based Section 8 subsidy. The development is limited to residents who are at least 62 years old or have a disability. The son applied to live with his father. The owner denied the application, in part because the son did not meet the age or disability requirement. According to the court, the son apparently moved in anyway.
In January 2025, the owner sued the son in the Metro South Division of the Housing Court and asked for an injunction. In February 2025, a judge granted a preliminary injunction ordering the son to stop living in the apartment. The son appealed, but the Appeals Court dismissed the appeal in August 2025 because he never filed a proper brief, even after getting extra time. The same day, he asked a single justice of the Supreme Judicial Court for relief under G.L. c. 211, § 3. The single justice denied it.
What the court decided
The full court affirmed in Latham v. POAH Communities, LLC, SJC-13859 (Mass. March 2, 2026).
The court’s special power is a last resort. Under G.L. c. 211, § 3, the Supreme Judicial Court has general superintendence over the lower courts to correct errors when no other remedy is expressly provided. A preliminary injunction is an interlocutory ruling, meaning it comes before the case is over. When someone asks the court to review that kind of ruling, S.J.C. Rule 2:21 requires them to show that review cannot adequately be obtained on appeal from a final judgment or by other available means.
He had a remedy and did not use it. The son had an adequate remedy: an appeal of the injunction to the Appeals Court. He in fact filed one. The appeal was dismissed because he did not prosecute it. The court held that losing an appeal that way does not make the remedy inadequate, and does not open the door to superintendence relief. See Tavares v. Commonwealth, 481 Mass. 1044 (2019) (not getting relief through the ordinary appeal process does not make that process inadequate).
The right path from an Appeals Court dismissal. To the extent he wanted to undo the Appeals Court’s dismissal, the court said his remedy was an application for further appellate review under Mass. R. A. P. 27.1, not a petition under c. 211, § 3. That rule gives a party 21 days after the Appeals Court’s decision to apply.
What this means for you
Subsidized housing for older adults and people with disabilities has strict eligibility rules, such as age or disability requirements. If you move in with a parent or relative after the owner has denied your application, the owner can go to court and ask a judge to order you out, as the owner did here.
If you think a denial was wrong, the time to act is when the owner denies your application, not after you move in. Ask for the reasons in writing and ask about any review or grievance process. If you or your relative has a disability, a reasonable accommodation request may be worth raising.
The second lesson is about deadlines. An appeal is only as good as the work you put into it. If you file a notice of appeal and then miss the brief deadline, the appeal can be dismissed. Going to the Supreme Judicial Court afterward will almost never fix that. The court will ask whether you had another remedy, and an appeal you let lapse counts.
What to do now
- Before anyone moves into a subsidized unit, get written approval from the owner or management to add them to the household.
- If an application is denied, ask in writing for the reasons and for any appeal or grievance process.
- If a court orders you to leave or stop living somewhere, follow the order while you seek review, and write down every deadline.
- If you appeal, file your brief on time. Ask for more time before the deadline passes, not after.
- If the Appeals Court rules against you, remember that an application for further appellate review is due within 21 days.
If this is your situation, call Doubleday Law at (617) 575-2006 or tell us what happened. Housing Court deadlines are short.
