Not just by pointing to late bills. In this case, the Appeals Court let stand a Housing Court judgment letting a trust beneficiary and her partner keep the family home, because the trust set no rent due date and the late tax and insurance payments were partly the fault of family members who did not forward the bills. This is an unpublished Appeals Court decision under Rule 23.0, which courts may cite as persuasive but not as binding precedent.
What happened
A father died and left his home in a testamentary trust, with one daughter as trustee. Another daughter had the right to live there as long as she paid the taxes, insurance, bills, utilities and expenses, plus monthly rent to the trustee. If she did not, the trustee could sell the house. The trust did not say when rent was due or how the taxes and insurance were to be paid. The trustee served a ninety-day no-fault notice to quit on the daughter and her partner and then filed a summary process case. At trial, the judge found the daughter had paid the utilities but owed rent for the current month, and that the trustee had paid overdue tax and insurance bills herself. The judge also credited the daughter’s testimony that those bills went to a third sister at another address and the sisters were not speaking.
What the court decided
The judge awarded possession to the occupants on conditions, set firm payment deadlines going forward, and awarded the trustee reimbursement for the taxes and insurance she paid. The trustee’s motion for reconsideration was denied, and the Appeals Court affirmed in Rose v. Santos, No. 24-P-250 (Mass. App. Ct. February 18, 2025) (Rule 23.0 decision).
To win possession in summary process, the owner must show ownership, a legally adequate notice to quit, and that the occupant holds possession without right. G.L. c. 239, § 1; Cambridge St. Realty, LLC v. Stewart, 481 Mass. 121 (2018). The trustee argued the daughter broke the trust’s conditions.
On rent, the court read the trust like a contract, by its plain words. Ferri v. Powell-Ferri, 476 Mass. 651 (2017). The trust required monthly rent but gave no due date. Because trial ended before the month was over, the unpaid rent for that month did not prove a breach.
On taxes and insurance, the judge found the late payments were at least partly the fault of the trustee and her sister for not passing along the bills. The trustee did not challenge those findings, and the appeals court defers to the trial judge on credibility. So there was no abuse of discretion.
The partner was not a trust beneficiary. But the parties stipulated at trial that a tenancy existed, and the trustee herself served him a notice to quit treating him as a tenant at will. That defeated her claim that he had no right to be there.
The trustee also argued that the damages award and the payment conditions went beyond what a summary process judgment allows. The court did not disturb those parts of the judgment, because the occupants had not filed a cross appeal and did not take part in the appeal. Taylor v. Beaudry, 82 Mass. App. Ct. 105 (2012).
What this means for you
Many families hold a home in a trust, with one relative running the trust and another living there. When the relationship breaks down, the trustee may try to use summary process to remove the relative. This decision shows that the trust’s exact words matter. If the trust does not set a due date, a court may not treat a payment as late just because it has not come in yet.
It also shows that fault matters. If the person living in the home never got the tax or insurance bills, a judge may not hold the late payment against them. Credible testimony about what you received and when can carry the day.
But the win came with strings. The occupants kept the home only on conditions, with set deadlines for rent, taxes, insurance and utilities, and they had to repay the trustee. Missing those deadlines later could put the home at risk again.
What to do now
- Get a full copy of the trust or will and read exactly what it requires of you and when.
- Ask in writing that tax, insurance and utility bills be sent directly to you, and keep a copy of that request.
- Pay by check or another traceable method and keep every receipt.
- If you get a notice to quit, do not ignore it. File an answer and raise every defense and counterclaim you have.
- If a judge sets conditions, put every deadline on your calendar and meet it.
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.
