PGR Management Co. v. Credle

694 N.E.2d 1273, 427 Mass. 636, 1998 Mass. LEXIS 326
CourtMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
DecidedJune 11, 1998
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 694 N.E.2d 1273 (PGR Management Co. v. Credle) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
PGR Management Co. v. Credle, 694 N.E.2d 1273, 427 Mass. 636, 1998 Mass. LEXIS 326 (Mass. 1998).

Opinion

Abrams, J.

Helen Credle (tenant) appeals from the order of dismissal of her appeal pursuant to G. L. c. 239, § 5, for failure to make the required use and occupancy payments. We affirm. The tenant separately appeals from an order entered by a judge in the Housing Court releasing all funds held in escrow to the plaintiff (landlord). The tenant claims that her attorney has a lien, pursuant to G. L. c. 221, § 50, against those funds, and that the lien was impermissibly dissolved when the attorney’s fees awarded the tenant were set off against rent that she owed [637]*637the landlord. See G. L. c. 186, § 14. We vacate the order releasing all the escrowed funds to the landlord.

1. Facts. On May 27, 1994, the landlord commenced a summary process action in the Boston Division of the Housing Court Department, alleging nonpayment of rent. The tenant answered with several defenses and counterclaims, including (1) the landlord’s eviction action was a reprisal in violation of G. L. c. 186, § 18, and G. L. c. 239, § 2A; (2) conditions in the apartment violated the implied warranty of habitability, see Boston Hous. Auth. v. Hemingway, 363 Mass. 184, 199 (1973), and G. L. c. 186, § 14; (3) the landlord’s practices violated G. L. c. 93A; and (4) the landlord’s conduct constituted intentional infliction of emotional distress. On April 26, 1996, after trial, a judge dismissed the intentional infliction claim, found that there had been no retaliation by the landlord against the tenant, and determined that the landlord was due $16,500 in back rent. He also ruled that the conditions in the apartment constituted a breach of the warranty of habitability, the landlord had interfered with the tenant’s quiet enjoyment of the premises in violation of c. 186, § 14, and the landlord had violated c. 93A. The judge, pursuant to Wolfberg v. Hunter, 385 Mass. 390, 400 (1982), entered judgment for the tenant on her claim pursuant to c. 186, § 14, and dismissed the tenant’s implied warranty of habitability and c. 93A claims. The judge awarded the tenant $1,500, plus costs of $97, and attorney’s fees of $6,500, “setoff against the balance due the landlord as calculated pursuant to G. L. c. 239, § 8A.”1 He also awarded her possession of the apartment, contingent on her timely payment to the court of the amount due the landlord ($8,403), [638]*638otherwise judgment on possession would enter automatically for the landlord.

The tenant did not make the required payment and, on May 13, 1996, judgment entered for the landlord. The tenant filed a timely notice of appeal and requested a waiver of the appeal bond, pursuant to G. L. c. 239, § 5. Consistent with G. L. c. 239, § 5, the judge, on May 31, 1996, ordered the waiver, and also ordered the tenant to pay monthly for use and occupancy. The judge explicitly conditioned the tenant’s right to prosecute her appeal on her compliance with this order.

Pursuant to G. L. c. 239, § 5, the tenant appealed from the amount and terms of the appeal bond to a single justice of the Appeals Court. On July 12, 1996, the single justice affirmed the order. The tenant again did not make the required payment and, on August 9, 1996, her appeal was dismissed. The tenant appealed from the dismissal of the appeal and also filed, on August 22, 1996, a separate action in the Housing Court seeking a restraining order to prevent the landlord from levying on the execution. The tenant’s application for a restraining order was denied, the execution was levied, and the tenant vacated the premises.

On November 5, 1996, the landlord moved a judge of the Housing Court to release to it all the funds paid into escrow. The tenant claimed that her attorney had a lien on the funds pursuant to G. L. c. 221, § 50. On December 10, 1996, a judge of the Housing Court concluded that the tenant’s attorney had a lien on the escrowed money that superseded any claim by the landlord, and ordered the release of $6,500 to the tenant’s attorney, with any remainder to be paid to the landlord. The landlord moved for reconsideration, and, on January 3, 1997, the judge reversed himself because he was “honor bound to carry out the dictates of [the trial judge] in this matter.” The judge explained that “the attorney’s fees were already utilized by [the trial judge] to offset the landlord’s claim for rent. . . . If [the trial judge] had not offset the attorney’s fees against the balance owed, [the tenant’s attorney] would be entitled to his lien. But since the amount of $6,500.00 was utilized to offset the amount owed the plaintiff, there is no money against which there is a lien.” Accordingly, the judge ordered the release of all the escrowed funds to the landlord. The tenant appealed and the release of the money was stayed pending appeal. We transferred the case from the Appeals Court on our own motion.

[639]*6392. Dismissal of the tenant’s appeal on the issues of possession and the tenant’s counterclaims. The tenant assigns error on the dismissal of all her claims and counterclaims on appeal. We conclude that the dismissal of the tenant’s claims to possession, as well as her counterclaims, was correct. The dismissal of those claims and counterclaims was not inconsistent with G. L. c. 239, § 5.

General Laws c. 239, § 5, provides in pertinent part: “[T]he defendant shall, before any appeal under this section is allowed from a judgment . . . rendered for the plaintiff for the possession of the land or tenements demanded in a case in which the plaintiff continues at the time of establishment of bond to seek to recover possession, give bond in such sum as the court orders .... If the defendant fails to file with the clerk of the court rendering the judgment, the amount of the bond . . . required . . . the appeal from the judgment shall be dismissed” (emphasis supplied). Here, it is undisputed that the tenant remained in possession, and the landlord sought to recover possession, into August, 1996, well after bond was established. The statute requires that the bond be filed, and, absent such filing, that the appeal be dismissed.

Principles of judicial economy require that the tenant’s appeals not be severed. Defenses and compulsory counterclaims are part and parcel of the underlying case and are adjudicated as part of that case. See Mass. R. Civ. P. 8 (c), 365 Mass. 749 (1974); Mass. R. Civ. P. 13 (a), as amended, 423 Mass. 1405 (1996). Similarly, once a defendant has raised permissive counterclaims in response to the plaintiff’s action, these claims also become part of the underlying case. See Mass. R. Civ. P. 13 (b), 365 Mass. 758 (1974). The tenant cannot complain when her claims are lost for her failure to comply with orders of the court. See Gos v. Brownstein, 403 Mass. 252, 255 (1988).

3. Setoff of attorney’s fees. The tenant separately appealed from the order releasing to the landlord all the funds held in escrow.2 The tenant claims that her attorney has a lien, pursuant to G. L. 221, § 50, against those funds. She contends that the lien prevents the judge from setting off the attorney’s fees awarded to her on her counterclaim pursuant to G. L. c. 186 against the rent owed. We agree.

General Laws c. 221, § 50, provides in pertinent part: “From [640]*640the authorized commencement of an action, counterclaim or other proceeding in any court. . .

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Bluebook (online)
694 N.E.2d 1273, 427 Mass. 636, 1998 Mass. LEXIS 326, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pgr-management-co-v-credle-mass-1998.