I am currently a tenant in a house that was foreclosed by the city of Lynn on a tax lien. In June the city tried to be sneaky and just throw me out, claiming code violations (all in the cellar) and no occupancy permit declaring it uninhabitable. I filed a motion for a TRO and I went to a mediation hearing with a housing specialist and we agreed they would give me until Aug 30. In June when I got home from court there was a water shut off notice on the door, I notified the city atty and he said it is all set for now, but only until Sept 1 then it will be shut off. Now my problem is that I have not yet found a suitable place and I need more time. The city attorney is not a reasonable person and he only agreed to give me until Aug 30 because he failed to issue me a written notice to quit. If I am not ready to leave Aug 30 can they just kick me out or shut off the water? I still never received any notice, we just had an agreement we signed back in June. The city’s reasoning is that the heating system is non operable and the city will not spend any $$ on repairs because they already existed prior to foreclosure. Is the city legally responsible as my landlord to repair this and other violations? If I just stay put will they have to go through the whole evictions process from step 1? I feel as though they have an unfair advantage where if it were a mortgage foreclosure the bank would have to make the repairs or face legal consequences, the city seems to think they can do whatever they please including having their own officials just condemn it. Please advise me on any options I may have. I do plan to purchase a “fixer upper” possibly in the same city so I’d rather not make an enemy, however he is not a reasonable person to just approach and ask for more time.
You signed an agreement in court on your own case, and this became a court order. Why do you believe that you should not be held to this due to the lack of some notice? If you do not move out, you will be in contempt of court, at the very least, and the court may allow the city to evict you.
It is time to rent a storage unit for your furniture and crash on a friend’s couch.
Gregory Lee
Gregory P. Lee, Attorney at Law
1 Center Plaza
Boston, MA 02108