Joy’s Home

Community Legal Aid represented “Joy,” a single mother of two young children living in Fitchburg. Joy’s apartment had several major issues, including a lack of heat, a sewage leak in the basement, unsafe and defective floors, a large quantity of trash around the building, lead paint, mold, water damage in the bathroom, scalding water temperatures, and exposed wiring. These conditions substantially limited the family’s use of the apartment. After Joy’s requests to her landlord to fix these problems were ignored, she began withholding a portion of her rent and contacted the board of health. Instead of fixing the problems, Joy’s landlord began eviction proceedings against her in Housing Court.

Lawyers from CLA’s Housing Unit stepped in on Joy’s behalf and defended her against the eviction. Following a trial, the judge found that the landlord’s refusal to make repairs was willful and reckless in violation of state law, awarded Joy triple damages, and required the landlord to pay for her attorneys’ fees. The landlord appealed and the Appeals Court issued a decision affirming in all respects the decision of the Housing Court, and also authorized an award of attorneys’ fees for CLA’s work on the appeal.