Soured Relationship Leads to Defamation Lawsuit Against Architect
The Massachusetts Appeals Court declined to hold an architect liable for advising its municipal clients to avoid working with a particular construction company.
SJC Limits Landlords’ Use of Security Deposits
When one of its tenants vacated her apartment without using professional cleaning services, a landlord deducted $115 from her security deposit. It could face a class-action lawsuit.
AG Gets Serious About Enforcing MBTA Communities Law
The attorney general’s lawsuit suggests that she will not wait to find out whether the loss of access to specific state funding programs will eventually persuade Milton to adopt compliant zoning.
Serial ADA Plaintiff Makes a Hasty Retreat
The Supreme Court’s decision to dismiss an activist’s case, however, leaves the question unsettled of who can sue over Americans with Disabilities Act violations.
The Transit Zoning Rules that Matter
What rules to municipalities have to follow in complying with the MBTA Communities transit-oriented zoning law? What deadlines matter? Who decides if a town is doing the right thing?
Court Rules COVID Shutdown Doesn’t Cancel Rent
Many disruptions from the COVID pandemic are now behind us, but litigation related to those disruptions continues to work its way through Massachusetts courts.
Supreme Court Deals Setback to Tax Takings
A new Supreme Court ruling is likely to affect the enforcement of property tax liens in Massachusetts.
Courts Force Abutters to Take Appeal Bond Seriously
A recent Supreme Judicial Court ruling imposes new requirements on abutters challenging the approval of housing developments.
How a Smart Growth District Changed Downtown Reading
The Smart Growth Zoning and Housing Production Act, also known as Chapter 40R, has had mixed results. But the Boston suburb of Reading has embraced embraced it, with positive outcomes.
A Tale of Two Turnpike Air Rights Developments
Boston is an attractive city with many desirable attributes, but it remains scarred by the 20th century public transportation project known as the Massachusetts Turnpike, an urban canyon that separates the Back Bay and South End.
A Serial Plaintiff Gets Another Day in Court
Hotels that fail to comply with ADA requirements for online reservation systems face increased risk of liability in the wake of a recent court ruling about who has standing to sue in such cases.
Appeals Court Allows Broker’s Claim Against Former Clients
A Winchester couple learned the hard way that a real estate broker can enforce an unwritten exclusive brokerage contract against them, even if the broker did not produce a closing.
Minority-Owned Development Firm Makes a Difference in Worcester
A Wellesley College poet and philosopher’s dream of redeveloping a Worcester property scored a tax benefit triple-play for The Menkiti Group, his son’s real estate development firm.
Neighbors Contest Relocation of Vineyard Hotel’s Pool Bar
An Edgartown hotel’s relocation of its outdoor pool bar is stirring up a hornet’s nest of litigation on Martha’s Vineyard.
No Room for Ambiguity in ‘Build to Suit’ Leases
The economics of “build to suit” leases are simple enough. But the process of carrying them out is a whole other matter. Here’s what landlords and tenants need to know.
Life Science Leases Bring Special Considerations for Tenants
Massachusetts is experiencing significant real estate activity associated with life sciences, but landlords and tenants should consider several issues before making financial commitments to these projects.
A Company Town Reinvents Itself in Western Mass.
Pittsfield has turned decades of contamination caused by General Electric’s former factory into opportunity, converting the 52-acre plant into an industrial park with six shovel-ready sites.
A Long Goodbye to LIBOR
The London Interbank Offered Rate was a widely accepted benchmark interest rate among financial institutions for over 40 years. One worldwide scandal and a handful of years later, it’s set to start expiring in a few days.
Appeals Court Ends Worcester Developer’s Phasing Rights
The Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled last month in Kettle Brook Lofts LLC v. Specht that a condominium developer could not unilaterally extend its phasing rights beyond what’s stipulated in the master deed.
Wetlands Violation Trips Up New Owner
The statute does not bar enforcement actions against subsequent buyers of the land, even if no enforcement action was brought against any prior buyer within the three-year period.
