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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4051 FILED ON: 1/20/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1465 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | David F. DeCoste |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act relative to rent escrow. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:David F. DeCoste5th Plymouth1/20/2023Joseph D. McKenna18th Worcester1/31/2023 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4051 FILED ON: 1/20/2023 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1465 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative DeCoste of Norwell, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1465) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | David F. DeCoste and Joseph D. McKenna relative to rent escrow. The Judiciary. |
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| 20 | 20 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 21 | 21 | | SEE HOUSE, NO. 1533 OF 2021-2022.] |
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| 22 | 22 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 23 | 23 | | _______________ |
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| 24 | 24 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 25 | 25 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 26 | 26 | | _______________ |
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| 27 | 27 | | An Act relative to rent escrow. |
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| 28 | 28 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 29 | 29 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 30 | 30 | | 1 The fourth paragraph of section 8A of chapter 239 of the General Laws, as appearing in |
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| 31 | 31 | | 2the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the last sentence and inserting in |
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| 32 | 32 | | 3place thereof the following 4 sentences:- If the originally scheduled trial date is continued for |
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| 33 | 33 | | 4any reason, and upon motion of any party, the court shall, after a hearing, require the tenant or |
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| 34 | 34 | | 5occupant intending to invoke this section to deposit with the clerk of the court, the plaintiff’s |
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| 35 | 35 | | 6attorney or other secure depository the amount: (1) due for use and occupancy each month or (2) |
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| 36 | 36 | | 7due upon the frequency required pursuant to the rental agreement; provided, that said amounts |
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| 37 | 37 | | 8shall include any amount due from the start of withholding, calculated according to the fair |
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| 38 | 38 | | 9market value of the premises. Said amounts shall be held in escrow pending final disposition of |
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| 39 | 39 | | 10the summary process action. Upon final disposition of the summary process action, amounts held |
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| 40 | 40 | | 11in escrow shall go first to repairs. If a tenant or occupant fails to comply with an order requiring 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 12deposit, the court, upon motion, shall order the matter to be scheduled for bench trial at the |
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| 42 | 42 | | 13earliest date available and make such further orders as the court deems just. |
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