Trustees of Beacon on Charles Condominium Trust v. Adler

28 Mass. L. Rptr. 231
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedApril 12, 2011
DocketNo. SUCV201000793
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 28 Mass. L. Rptr. 231 (Trustees of Beacon on Charles Condominium Trust v. Adler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Trustees of Beacon on Charles Condominium Trust v. Adler, 28 Mass. L. Rptr. 231 (Mass. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

Cratsley, John C., J.

The plaintiffs, Trustees of the Beacon on the Charles Condominium Trust (“Plaintiff’), have brought a Motion for Summary Judgment on their Complaint against the defendants, Bruce W. Adler and Regina M. Hurley, Trustees of the Boca Real Estate Trust (“Defendant”) pursuant to Rule 56(c). The nature of the original Complaint is an action under G.L.c. 183A, §6 to recover unpaid common expenses from the unit owner. The defendant opposes the plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment and brings his own Cross Motion for Summary Judgment pursuant to Rule 56(c). For the following reasons, the plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED, and the defendant’s Cross Motion for Summary Judgment is ALLOWED.

BACKGROUND

The central facts of this case are undisputed. The defendant owns unit #337-7 in the condo building located at 334 Beacon Street in Boston, MA. The condo is governed by a Master Deed, By-Laws, and Rules and Regulations. The Rules and Regulations of the condo provide that a unit owner may not be allowed to keep a pet that the Trustees determine is a nuisance to others, and that unit owners are not to engage in “noxious” or “offensive” activities, including those that produce noise which is disruptive to other unit owners. See Rules and Regulations, paragraphs 4 and 9, Exhibit B, pages 25-26.

In June of 2007, the defendant rented the unit to a tenant, Harry Sun (“Tenant”). The tenant had a pet dog that lived with him in the unit. In May of 2009, the plaintiff began formal notification to the defendant that the Tenant’s dog was a nuisance.1 The plaintiff began assessing fines of $50 per day against the defendant on October 8,2009 for violation of the above mentioned Rules and Regulations of the condominium. In May of 2010, the tenant and his dog vacated the unit. The plaintiff states that the total amount owed by the defendant as “common expenses” pursuant to the assessed fines is $13,906.20.2

DISCUSSION

I. Summary Judgment Standard

Summary Judgment is appropriate when there is no triable issue of fact. Ng Bros. Constr., Inc. v. Cranney, 436 Mass. 638, 643-44 (2002). A Motion for Summary Judgment can be defeated by specific facts that establish a genuine, triable issue of fact. First National Bank v. Slade, 379 Mass. 243 (1976). The non-moving party must allege specific facts, supported by affidavits, deposition testimony, answers to interrogatories, or admissions on file showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. LeLonde v. Eissner, 405 Mass. 207, 209 (1989); Mass.R.Civ.P. 56(e). In deciding a motion for summary judgment, all reasonable inferences are drawn in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Girardi v. Gabriel, 38 Mass.App.Ct. 533, 554 (1995).

The plaintiff asserts that there is no triable issue of fact in this case, as the defendant is obligated by law to pay common expenses, per G.L.c. 183A, §6. In response, the defendant argues that the plaintiff has not supplied evidence that the proper procedure under the Condo bylaws was followed in assessing the fines. This argument by the defendant is a mere allegation and, thus, insufficient to raise a genuine issue of material fact.

The plaintiff further asserts that the defendant is not permitted to withhold payment of common expenses as a matter of law, citing Blood v. Edgar’s, Inc., 36 Mass.App.Ct. 402 (1994). In response, the defendant argues that the plaintiff has no authority to assess these fines under the classification of “common expenses.” This issue of law determines the cross motions for Summary Judgment.

II. Defendant’s Obligation to Pay Common Expenses

The plaintiff argues that summary judgment is appropriate because the defendant has no defense, as a matter of law, to the non-payment of common expenses. The rule announced in Blood states that a unit owner cannot resort to the self-help remedy of nonpayment absent an affirmative judgment that the assessed fines are illegal. Blood, 36 Mass.App.Ct. at 404 (“a unit owner in a condominium may not challenge a common expense assessment by refusing to [232]*232pay it”). This rule is intended to protect the financial integrity of the condo association. See Trustees of the Prince Condominium v. Prosser, 412 Mass. 723, 725-26 (1992). In the present case, the defendant did not obtain an affirmative judgment on the legality of the fines that the plaintiff assessed as “common expenses.”

While the rule that a unit owner may not withhold payment of common expenses is an important one, there are cases which distinguish this rule. In Trustees of Hunter’s Village Condo v. Gerke, Mass.App.Div. 23 (2007), the defendant condo owner was able to successfully challenge the plaintiff Trustee’s complaint for payment of assessed common expenses by challenging the validity of the fines as “common expenses.” The theory in Trustees was that there was no relationship between the defendant as a unit owner and the fines assessed as “common expenses." In Brookside Condominium Trust v. Zuliani, 1999 WL 1331233 (Mass.Super.) [9 Mass. L. Rptr. 652), Judge Gants found that fines unlawfully designated as “common expenses” would not be enforced as common expenses under G.L.c. 183A. Even in Blood v. Edgar’s, which the plaintiff cites, the Appeals Court found that a portion of the assessed expenses were, in fact, unlawfully classified as “common expenses,” and did not award that portion of the expenses to the plaintiff condo trustees in that case.3 Blood, 36 Mass.App.Ct. at 408. Following these exceptions to the rule set forth in Blood, the primary question in this case is whether the fines assessed against the defendant are lawfully characterized as “common expenses.”

III. Analysis of Plaintiffs Designation of these Fines as Common Expenses

The definition of “common expenses” is found in G.L.c. 183A, §1 as “the expenses of administration, maintenance, repair, or replacement of the common areas and facilities, and expenses declared common expenses by this chapter.” There is no claim by the plaintiff that the fines imposed on the defendant are for the “administration, maintenance, repair, or replacement of the common areas and facilities” of the condominium. Therefore, I must evaluate whether statutory or case law support the plaintiffs assertion that the fines imposed for a violation of the Rules and Regulations can be considered “common expenses” by G.L.c. 183A. Violations of rules and regulations, as well as “misconduct”4 of the unit owner or his tenant, may be subject to enforcement as a “common expense.” G.L.c. 183A, §6(a)(ii). However, G.L.c. 183A, §11 (d) states that rules and regulations may only apply to common areas of the building and not to individual units.5 Further, G.L.c. 183A, §11 (e) specifically states that restrictions on private use of units that are intended to prevent “unreasonable interference” with the enjoyment of other units shall be in the by-laws, rather than simply in the rules and regulations, in order to be valid. Therefore, the question in this case is whether the rules and regulations purportedly violated by the defendant are found in the By-laws of the condominium, and thereby enforceable as a “common expense” under G.L.c. 183A.

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Bluebook (online)
28 Mass. L. Rptr. 231, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/trustees-of-beacon-on-charles-condominium-trust-v-adler-masssuperct-2011.