Yes. The Appeals Court held that a tenant facing an eviction for alleged lease violations can still defend on the ground that the landlord is retaliating against her for reporting bad conditions to the board of health. A Housing Court judge was wrong to rule that the defense was off the table because the case was “for cause.” This is a published decision of the Appeals Court and binding statewide.
What happened
The tenant had lived in the apartment for years as a tenant at will under a written lease. In June 2022 she noticed damage to her refrigerator, oven and walls that she believed rodents had caused, and she told the landlord. In August 2022 she reported the problem to the Haverhill board of health. An inspection found evidence of rodents and other violations, and the board issued a notice of violations the next day. In September 2022 the landlord served a thirty-day notice to quit for cause, listing claimed lease violations. After a bench trial, the judge found at least one lease violation and awarded possession to the landlord. The judge acknowledged the tenant’s retaliation defense but refused to consider it, reasoning that G.L. c. 239, § 8A, made defenses unavailable in a for-cause eviction.
What the court decided
In Campbell v. Abdulla, 105 Mass. App. Ct. 790 (2025), the court vacated the judgment and sent the case back for further proceedings.
The retaliation defense comes from G.L. c. 239, § 2A. It is a defense to an eviction case that the landlord brought it, or ended the tenancy, because the tenant reported a violation of law as described in G.L. c. 186, § 18. That includes reporting code violations to the board of health. If the landlord sends the notice to quit or files the case within six months of the report, the law presumes retaliation. The landlord can overcome that presumption only by clear and convincing evidence that it was not a reprisal and that the landlord had independent reasons and would have acted the same way, at the same time, anyway.
Here the notice to quit came within about a month of the board of health report, so the presumption arose.
The trial judge relied on § 8A, which lets tenants raise defenses and counterclaims in eviction cases brought for nonpayment of rent or where the tenancy ended without the tenant’s fault. The Appeals Court held that reading was error. Section 8A is not the only source of defenses in summary process. Bank of America, N.A. v. Rosa, 466 Mass. 613 (2013). Nothing in § 2A limits the retaliation defense to nonpayment or no-fault cases, and courts will not add words the Legislature left out. The Supreme Judicial Court had already said the § 2A presumption applies whether or not the case is for nonpayment, Youghal, LLC v. Entwistle, 484 Mass. 1019 (2020), and had treated § 2A as a viable defense in a for-cause eviction, Beacon Residential Management, LP v. R.P., 477 Mass. 749 (2017).
What this means for you
If you reported conditions to the board of health, a housing inspector or your landlord in writing, and then received a notice to quit for alleged lease violations, the timing matters. A notice within six months triggers a presumption of retaliation, even when the landlord calls the case “for cause.” The landlord then carries a heavy burden to prove it would have taken the same step at the same time regardless of your report.
The decision does not mean you automatically win. The landlord can still try to rebut the presumption with clear and convincing evidence. On remand, the trial court must actually weigh the retaliation defense against the landlord’s proof.
This case is also a reminder to raise your defenses in your written answer. The tenant here preserved the retaliation defense in her answer and pressed it on appeal.
What to do now
- Gather every complaint you made, including emails, texts, letters and board of health reports, with dates.
- Get a copy of any inspection report or notice of violations.
- Compare those dates to the date on your notice to quit and the date the case was filed.
- List retaliation as a defense in your answer, along with any other defenses you have.
- Get legal help before your trial date.
If this is your situation, call Doubleday Law at (617) 575-2006 or tell us what happened. Housing Court deadlines are short.
