Yes. If you live in a sober home under a written residential agreement, a Housing Court judge can award the owner possession when you violate a material term of that agreement. In this case the Appeals Court affirmed an eviction from a sober home after the judge found the occupant broke several house rules, including bringing alcohol onto the property. This is an unpublished Appeals Court decision under Rule 23.0, which courts may cite as persuasive but not as binding precedent.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 property was owned by a trust and operated as a sober home. In March 2018 the occupant signed an agreement setting out the rules residents had to follow to stay. The trustee later brought a summary process case in the Housing Court, claiming the occupant violated five paragraphs of that agreement. After a bench trial, the judge found that the occupant was argumentative and disrespectful toward other residents and their guests, brought alcohol to the property, and on one occasion threw a block of wood and a rock at the trustee’s son. The judge concluded the occupant violated a material term of the tenancy agreement and entered judgment for possession.
What the court decided
The Appeals Court affirmed in Grady v. Childs, No. 24-P-817 (Mass. App. Ct. October 31, 2025) (Rule 23.0 decision).
The standard of review. When a judge, not a jury, decides the facts, the appeals court accepts the judge’s findings unless they are clearly erroneous. U.S. Bank Nat’l Ass’n v. Schumacher, 467 Mass. 421 (2014). The appeals court also gives the strongest deference to the trial judge’s view of who was believable, because that judge heard the witnesses and watched them testify.
Credibility decided the case. The trial judge did not credit any of the occupant’s testimony. With the judge’s findings in place, the Appeals Court saw no abuse of discretion in the conclusion that the occupant violated a material term of the agreement. The decision is short. It did not decide whether a sober home resident is a tenant in every case, or what notice the owner had to give. It treated the residential agreement as the tenancy agreement and applied the usual rule that a material breach can support possession.
What this means for you
Sober homes and other group residences often use written agreements with detailed house rules. This decision shows that a court may treat those rules as terms of your tenancy. If the rules you signed bar alcohol, threats or disruptive conduct, a serious or repeated violation can be the basis for an eviction.
The case also shows why the trial is the place to win. Appeals courts rarely second guess a judge who heard the witnesses and decided whom to believe. Once the judge here rejected the occupant’s account, there was little left to argue on appeal. If you dispute what happened, you need evidence at trial: witnesses, texts, house logs, or other records, not just your own word.
Not every rule is material. Whether a violation is serious enough to end a tenancy depends on the agreement and the facts. And here the owner went to court. It brought a summary process case and proved its claims at trial before getting possession.
What to do now
- Get a copy of the residential agreement and house rules you signed. Read which rules the owner says you broke.
- Write down your side of each incident with dates, names and witnesses while your memory is fresh.
- Collect texts, emails, house meeting notes or other records that support your account.
- If you receive court papers, file your answer on time and appear at every hearing. If you are locked out without a court order, act fast.
If this is your situation, call Doubleday Law at (617) 575-2006 or tell us what happened. Housing Court deadlines are short.
