No. Only the owner or the lessor can bring an eviction case, and a management company suing as “managing agent” has no standing. In March 2026 the Appeals Court threw out an eviction on that ground, dismissed it with prejudice, and also found that the trial judge put the burden of proving retaliation on the wrong party. This is an unpublished Appeals Court decision under Rule 23.0, which courts may cite as persuasive but not as binding precedent.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 had lived in the same apartment complex since 1991 and signed a renewal lease in 2013. The lease named the owner, a separate housing partnership, as the landlord. From 2019 to 2023, the property manager sent several lease violation notices, about items stored outside, bikes, and a camera, but took no legal action. In January 2024 the tenant told the manager she had fallen on the property, and in February 2024 her lawyer sent a notice of claim to the management company’s corporate office. In April 2024 the management company served a notice to quit citing unauthorized occupants, the camera, and failure to report income, then sued for possession in the Housing Court in its own name as “lessor and/managing agent” for the owner. The Housing Court judge gave the management company possession.
What the court decided
The Appeals Court vacated the judgment and ordered the complaint dismissed with prejudice in S-K Management Co. v. Casalinuova, No. 25-P-468 (Mass. App. Ct. March 18, 2026) (Rule 23.0 decision).
Standing. Summary process is available only to the person entitled to the property. G.L. c. 239, § 1. The Supreme Judicial Court has held that this means the owner or lessor. A managing agent has no standing, even when it acts for the owner with the owner’s approval. Rental Prop. Mgt. Servs. v. Hatcher, 479 Mass. 542 (2018). Once the tenant raised the issue, the judge had to look into it. Here the lease named the partnership as landlord, and rent checks were payable to the complex, not the manager. Calling itself “Lessor” in the caption did not help, because the same caption named someone else as the owner. Where lack of standing defeats the claim itself, dismissal is with prejudice, as Hatcher holds.
Retaliation. The court did not have to reach this issue but chose to, because it was fully briefed and likely to come up again. Under G.L. c. 186, § 18 and G.L. c. 239, § 2A, a notice to quit (other than for nonpayment) within six months of protected activity creates a presumption of retaliation. The landlord must then prove by clear and convincing evidence that it had an independent reason and would have acted the same way at the same time anyway. The court treated the tenant’s notice of claim as triggering the presumption, since the notice to quit came within six months. The trial judge instead said the tenant had not proven retaliation. That put the burden on the wrong side. The judge also made no finding that the landlord met its burden. Following South Boston Elderly Residences, Inc. v. Moynahan, 91 Mass. App. Ct. 455 (2017), the court said the landlord had the burden to explain why it did not act on earlier violations but moved to evict on the most recent ones.
What this means for you
Look at who filed the case against you. If the plaintiff is a property management company, and your lease names a different owner or landlord, the case may have to be dismissed. You can raise this in your answer, and the judge must look into it once it is raised. The company’s own description of itself as “agent” or “managing agent” can prove the point.
Second, timing matters. If you reported a code violation to the board of health or in writing to your landlord, started certain legal claims, or joined a tenants’ union, and you got a notice to quit (other than for nonpayment) within six months, the law presumes retaliation. You do not have to prove the landlord’s motive. The landlord has to prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that it would have done the same thing at the same time anyway. If the landlord let earlier violations go, it has to explain why it acted when it did.
What to do now
- Read your lease and your summons. Write down who the lease names as landlord or owner, and who is named as plaintiff.
- Check who your rent checks are payable to and keep copies.
- Make a timeline of every complaint, report, claim letter or tenant organizing you did, with dates.
- Keep every lease violation notice you received, and note when the landlord did nothing about it.
- Raise standing and retaliation in your answer, and get legal help before the answer deadline.
If this is your situation, call Doubleday Law at (617) 575-2006 or tell us what happened. Housing Court deadlines are short.
