Hampden County Client Jorge Ortiz-Vazquez

In another powerful impact case, CLA Attorney Uri Strauss won an important victory for Massachusetts tenants in Morse v. Ortiz-Vazquez. In this case, the Mass. Appeals Court ruled that the Housing Court was wrong to preclude a tenant from filing a late answer to an eviction complaint, thereby barring the tenant from raising affirmative defenses that could have preserved his tenancy. The tenant, Jorge Ortiz-Vazquez, a native Spanish speaker, had not filed a timely answer because his language barrier made it hard to understand what he needed to do. When he appeared for the trial, Jorge stated that he had evidence to prove that his apartment contained defective conditions, a claim which could have enabled him to win the eviction case.

According to Attorney Strauss, “In summary process [eviction] actions, the vast majority of tenants do not have a lawyer because they cannot afford one. These cases also move quickly and are governed by a complex web of procedural and substantive laws. Not surprisingly, most tenants find themselves unable to file a timely answer.”

Attorney Strauss continued, “In this case, when the Housing Court refused to let Mr. Ortiz-Vazquez file a late answer, it meant that he could not present a defense to his eviction, specifically, that he was lawfully withholding rent due to bad conditions in the apartment.

‘With this ruling, Mr. Ortiz-Vazquez and tenants like him will be permitted to proceed on the merits of their defenses, rather than possibly becoming homeless because of a missed deadline.”