Massachusetts Landlord's Refusal To Renew Lease After Long-Time Tenant's New Child Triggered Lead Paint Abatement Obligation Leads To State AG Lawsuit

From the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General:

• A Boston real estate management company, its agent and property owner have been sued for violating state anti-discrimination law, Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office announced. The Attorney General’s Office filed a housing discrimination complaint on January 3, 2011, against Mediate Management Company (“Mediate”), its agent Deborah Kooring, and Fenway Buttrick, LLC, in Suffolk Superior Court alleging that the defendants refused to renew the lease of a family because they reside with a young child whose presence required the defendants to comply with state lead paint laws.(1)

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• According to the complaint, the tenants lived for many years in an apartment unit owned by Fenway Butrick, LLC and managed by Mediate. In May 2010, the tenants submitted a lease renewal to the defendants and informed them that the tenants recently had a child who would be living with them in the apartment unit. Concerned for their child’s well-being, the tenants asked the defendants to inspect the apartment unit for lead paint hazards. The complaint alleges that after learning of the change in the tenants’ familial status, Mediate’s agent notified the tenants that their lease would not be renewed.

• Mediate’s purported basis for the non-renewal included maximum occupancy limitations and square footage limitations, both of which bases later were shown to be incorrect. According to the complaint, in late May 2010, the tenants filed a complaint alleging discrimination with the Boston Fair Housing Commission (“BFHC”). The defendants subsequently submitted to a lead paint inspection which revealed high levels of lead paint and required the defendants to abate the lead hazard under Massachusetts lead paint laws.

For the Massachusetts AG press release, see AG Sues Boston Real Estate Management Company, Agent and Property Owner for Housing Discrimination.

(1) “Anti-discrimination law prohibits landlords and real estate professionals from refusing to rent to prospective tenants because they have children. It further requires them to comply with lead paint laws designed to protect young children from known health hazards,” AG Coakley said. “Massachusetts is facing critical housing needs and residents must be treated fairly.”