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(A) All elderly, handicapped or low- or moderate-income tenants of decontrolled housing accommodations may petition the Board on a form approved by the Administrator for a downward adjustment of the rent for such a housing accommodation if the landlord has increased the rent for said tenant’s housing accommodation by percentage which is greater than the percentage increase in the consumer price index for the 12 months immediately preceding the date of said tenant’s petition. For the purpose of preventing rent gouging, all other tenants of decontrolled housing may petition the Board on a form approved by the Administrator for a downward adjustment of the rent for such housing accommodation if the landlord has increased the rent for said tenant’s housing accommodation by a percentage greater than 10% in any one year. The Board shall, at least annually, take all reasonable steps to make such tenant aware of the provisions of this Subsection and the rights and protections of all tenants existing pursuant to this Section. The Administrator shall conduct a hearing with respect to all such petitions filed and shall make a recommendation to the Board. The Board shall not be bound by the Administrator’s recommendation and shall evaluate independently the evidence as presented to the Administrator. The Board shall act within a reasonable time after receiving the Administrator’s recommendation; provided, however, such action shall occur within 60 days after the Board’s receipt of a petition. Until a decision has been made by the Board in favor of the tenant, the tenant shall be obligated to tender such rent increase as lawfully required by the landlord; provided, however, the Board shall order repayment. The Board may by regulation modify the hearing procedure provided for in this Section to serve the public interest.
(B) Any such petition shall be filed with the Board within 45 days after the tenant’s receipt of the landlord’s notice of the rent increase; provided, however, the Board may extend such period for filing if the tenant was unable to file the petition due to illness, absence from the city or other good cause. The Administrator shall notify the landlord upon receipt of a petition. Failure on the part of the landlord to appear at a hearing, either in person or through counsel, on a tenant’s petition pursuant to this Subsection shall result in an automatic approval of said tenant’s petition.
(C) Within 45 days after the effective date of this Section, annually on January 2, beginning in 1985, and as part of any notice of an increase in the rent for any decontrolled housing accommodation, and upon a tenant’s initial taking of occupancy in a unit of a housing accommodation, every tenant shall be notified in writing of his or her right to file a rent grievance with the Board pursuant to this Subsection. Such notice shall be in a form which has been approved by the Administrator and shall contain information respecting the conditions of eligibility and the procedure for such rent grievances. On or before February 1 of each year, the landlord shall file with the Board an affidavit, under penalty of perjury, that he or she has caused the notice to be mailed on or about January 2 to each such tenant. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Subsection, no landlord shall receive more than one rent adjustment in any 12-month period.
(Ord. 1972 c. 19; Ord. 1974 c. 13; CBC 1975 Ord. T10 § 6; Ord. 1979 cs. 29, 37; Ord. 1981 c. 8; Ord. 1982 cs. 15, 16, 17, 26, 37; Ord. 1983 cs. 1, 9, 17, 23, 33; CBC 1985 10-2.6) Penalty, see Subsections 10-2.16, 10-2.17
(A) Individual adjustment of maximum rent. The Board shall consider an adjustment of rent for an individual controlled housing accommodation upon receipt of a petition for adjustment filed by the landlord or tenant of such housing accommodation or upon its own initiative. Such petition shall be made on a form approved by the Administrator. The Board shall notify the landlord and tenant if the petition was filed by the tenant, or the tenant and landlord if the petition was filed by the landlord, upon receipt of such petition of the right of either party to request a hearing in writing within 15 calendar days after the receipt of such notice, or the Board may schedule a hearing upon its own initiative. If a hearing is requested in a timely manner by either party, or if the action is undertaken upon the initiative of the Board, notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be furnished to the landlord and the tenant and the hearing shall be conducted before a designee of the Board. The Board may consolidate petitions and actions taken under its own initiative relating to controlled housing accommodations in the same building or development, and all such petitions and actions may be considered in a single hearing.
(B) General adjustment of maximum rent by regulation. Upon its own initiative, the Board may make a general adjustment, in addition to those required by Subsection 10-2.5(A), by percentage or otherwise, of the rental levels for any class of controlled housing accommodations subject to such conditions, if any, as the Board shall determine. Prior to making such adjustments, a public hearing shall be held before at least a majority of the Board. Notice of the time, place and purpose of such hearing shall be published three times in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the city, the first such publication shall appear at least 30 calendar days prior to the scheduled date of said hearing.
(C) Limitations on petitions for individual adjustment. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Subsection, the Board may, without holding a hearing, refuse to adjust the maximum rent for an individual controlled housing accommodation and may dismiss any petition for adjustment if a decision has been made with respect to the maximum rent for such housing accommodation within the preceding 12 months or if the Board finds that the petition for adjustment is filed for the purposes of harassment or for any other purpose not intended by this Section.
(D) Hearings required under division (A) above shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of M.G.L. Chapter 30A, Section 11, except that requirements (7) and (8) of said Section 11 shall not apply to such hearings.
(Ord. 1972 c. 19; Ord. 1974 c. 13; CBC 1975 Ord. T10 § 7; Ord. 1979 cs. 29, 37; Ord. 1981 c. 8; Ord. 1982 cs. 15, 16, 17, 26, 37; Ord. 1983 cs. 1, 9, 17, 23, 33; CBC 1985 10-2.7)
Upon receipt by the Board of a tenant petition for adjustment of maximum rent for a controlled housing accommodation, or upon action initiated by the Board for adjustment of maximum rent for any such housing accommodation, the landlord shall furnish to the Administrator, within 15 days after a written demand thereof, an information statement in forms approved by the Administrator. Whoever fails to file in a timely manner any information required to be filed under this Subsection may, in addition to all other penalties pursuant to Subsection 10-2.17, subject to a fine of up to $50 per calendar day, or part thereof, that such failure continues.
(Ord. 1972 c. 19; Ord. 1974 c. 13; CBC 1975 Ord. T10 § 8; Ord. 1979 cs. 29, 37; Ord. 1981 c. 8; Ord. 1982 cs. 15, 16, 17, 26, 37; Ord. 1983 cs. 1, 9, 17, 23, 33; CBC 1985 10-2.8) Penalty, see Subsections 10-2.16 and 10-2.17
(A) No person shall bring any action to recover possession of a controlled or vacancy decontrolled housing accommodation unless:
(1) The tenant has failed to pay the rent to which the landlord is legally entitled;
(2) The tenant has violated an obligation or covenant of tenancy other than the obligation to surrender possession upon proper notice and has failed to cure such violation after having received written notice thereof from the landlord;
(3) The tenant is committing or permitting to exist a nuisance in, or is causing substantial damage to, the housing accommodation, or is creating substantial interference with the comfort, safety or enjoyment of the landlord or other occupants of the same or any adjacent housing accommodation;
(4) The tenant is convicted of using or permitting a housing accommodation to be used for any illegal purpose;
(5) The tenant, who had a written rental housing agreement which terminated on or after the passage of this Section has refused, after written request or demand by the landlord, to execute a written extension or renewal thereof for a further term of like duration and in such terms as are not inconsistent with or violative of any provisions of this Section;
(6) The tenant has refused the landlord reasonable access to the housing accommodation for the purpose of making necessary repairs or improvements required by the laws of the United States, the commonwealth or any subdivision thereof, or for the purpose of inspection as permitted or required by the lease or by law, or for the purpose of showing the housing accommodation to any prospective purchaser or mortgagee;
(7) The tenant holding at the end of a lease term is a subtenant not approved by the landlord;
(8) (a) The landlord seeks to recover possession in good faith for the use and occupancy of himself or herself, or his or her children, parents, brother, sister, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law or daughter-in-law:
1. Which is occupied by a tenant entitled to protections under paragraph k. of Subsection 10-2.10; or
2. For which a master deed was or articles of organization were duly recorded after December 28, 2011, pursuant to M.G.L. Chapters 183A, 156B, 157 or 157B.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Section, including, but not limited to, division (A)(8)(a) above and paragraph k. of Subsection 10-2.10, the Board shall issue a certificate of eviction to the owner of a condominium or cooperative housing accommodation who has satisfied the Board that the following requirements have been met:
1. The owner legally occupied the housing accommodation continuously for at least one year as his or her principal residence after conversion or removal;
2. The owner subsequently rented the housing accommodation to a tenant; and
3. All the legal owners demonstrate that they, in good faith, intend to reside in the housing accommodation as their principal residence.
(9) The landlord seeks to recover possession to demolish the same in compliance with a lawful government order;
(10) Recovery of possession in order to remove a controlled or decontrolled housing accommodation shall not be a valid reason to recover possession of a housing accommodation occupied by a tenant protected by Subsection 10-2.10 or of any controlled or decontrolled housing accommodation for which a master deed was or articles of organization were duly recorded pursuant to M.G.L. Chapters 183A, 156B, 157 or 157B; and
(11) The landlord seeks to recover possession for any other just cause; provided that his or her purpose is not in conflict with the provisions and purposes of this Section.
(B) The landlord of any controlled or vacancy decontrolled housing accommodation or other property subject to this Subsection shall include the full text of division (A) above on all leases entered after [date of enactment].
(C) Failure to comply with this Subsection shall be an affirmative defense to any action to recover possession of a controlled or vacancy decontrolled housing accommodation.
(Ord. 1972 c. 19; Ord. 1974 c. 13; CBC 1975 Ord. T10 § 9; Ord. 1979 cs. 29, 37; Ord. 1981 c. 8; Ord. 1982 cs. 15, 16, 17, 26, 37; Ord. 1983 cs. 1, 9, 17, 23, 33; CBC 1985 10-2.9; Ord. 1987 c. 6 § 3; Ord. 1988 c. 9 §§ [A], [B], [C], [D], [E]; Ord. 2011 c. 17) Penalty, see Subsection 10-2.17
(A) Notwithstanding the provisions of any lease or rental agreement to the contrary, no owner of a controlled or decontrolled housing accommodation subject to the jurisdiction of the Board may, as a condition of tenancy or otherwise, prohibit or prevent any elderly or handicapped tenant from owning common household pets or having such pets living in the tenant’s unit. Furthermore, no owner of a controlled or decontrolled housing accommodation shall have the right to restrict or discriminate against any elderly or handicapped tenant in connection with admission to, or continued occupancy of, such housing by reason of the tenant’s ownership of common household pets or the presence of such pets in that tenant’s unit. The owner of such housing accommodations shall have the right to promulgate reasonable requirements regarding the number of common household pets allowed in each unit, standards of pet care, licensing, inoculation and leash laws, similar to those developed by the commonwealth’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and consistent with commonwealth and local laws on animal control, such as M.G.L. Chapter 140, Sections 136A—174F. Nothing in this provision shall bar the owner from requiring the removal of any pet if the pet’s conduct or condition is determined to constitute a nuisance or a threat to the health or safety of other occupants of the building, structure or development of other persons in the community where the housing accommodation is located.
(B) Notwithstanding the exemptions found in Subsection 10-2.1, the definition of “housing accommodation”, all housing accommodations in mobile homes, in mobile home parks and in structures having three or more dwellings, excluding motels, hotels or inns, and excluding housing accommodations in structures having three dwelling units, one of which is occupied by all the legal and beneficial owners of the structure as their principal residence, shall be subject to the provisions of this Subsection.
(CBC 1985 10-2.9A; Ord. 1988 c. 13 §§ 1, 2) Penalty, see Subsection 10-2.17
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