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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1449 FILED ON: 1/18/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1695 |
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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 | | James M. Murphy |
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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 landlords accountability with regard to drug houses. |
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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:James M. Murphy4th Norfolk1/13/2023 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1449 FILED ON: 1/18/2023 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1695 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Murphy of Weymouth, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1695) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | James M. Murphy for legislation to establish penalties for landlords knowingly providing |
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| 20 | 20 | | premises to be used for illegal drug purposes. The Judiciary. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act relative to landlords accountability with regard to drug houses. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 SECTION 1: Chapter 139 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2Edition,Chapter 20 is hereby amended by adding in the first line before the word "whomever" |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3the following: |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4 Section 20 (a) An owner of a residential dwelling unit shall not knowingly and |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5intentionally rent, lease, profit from, or make available for use, with or without compensation, |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6the dwelling unit which is used for the unlawfully manufacturing, storing, distributing, or using a |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7controlled substance as set forth in section 31 of chapter 94C; provided, however that no housing |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8authority shall be an owner under this section. |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9 SECTION 2: Chapter 139 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10is hereby further amended by adding at the end of Chapter 20 the following: |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11 (b) Any landlord who violates subsection (a), and who knew or reasonably should have |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12known that said dwelling unit is being used for unlawfully manufacturing, storing, distribution, 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13or using a controlled substance shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than the greater of: |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14$1,000 for the first offense; $5,000 for the second offense; and $10,000 for each offense after; |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15and possible forfeiture of said dwelling. If a civil penalty is calculated under this subsection and |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16there is more than 1 defendant, the court may apportion the penalty between multiple violators, |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17but each violator shall be jointly and severally liable for the civil penalty under this subsection. |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18 (c) Penalties paid under this section shall be collected during time of sentencing and |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19disbursed to the arresting agency to be used for drug awareness education or substance abuse |
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| 48 | 48 | | 20counseling or advocacy for youths, parents and other interested adults. |
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