Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H1909 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1994 FILED ON: 1/15/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1909
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	James M. Murphy
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act relative to landlords accountability with regard to drug houses.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:James M. Murphy4th Norfolk1/15/2025 1 of 2
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1994 FILED ON: 1/15/2025
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1909
18	18	By Representative Murphy of Weymouth, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1909) of
19	19	James M. Murphy for legislation to establish penalties for landlords knowingly providing
20	20	premises to be used for illegal drug purposes. The Judiciary.
21	21	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
22	22	SEE HOUSE, NO. 1695 OF 2023-2024.]
23	23	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
24	24	_______________
25	25	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
26	26	(2025-2026)
27	27	_______________
28	28	An Act relative to landlords accountability with regard to drug houses.
29	29	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
30	30	of the same, as follows:
31	31	1 SECTION 1: Chapter 139 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official
32	32	2Edition,Chapter 20 is hereby amended by adding in the first line before the word "whoever" the
33	33	3following:
34	34	4 Section 20 (a) An owner of a residential dwelling unit shall not knowingly and
35	35	5intentionally rent, lease, profit from, or make available for use, with or without compensation,
36	36	6the dwelling unit which is used for the unlawfully manufacturing, storing, distributing, or using a
37	37	7controlled substance as set forth in section 31 of chapter 94C; provided, however that no housing
38	38	8authority shall be an owner under this section. 2 of 2
39	39	9 SECTION 2: Chapter 139 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition
40	40	10is hereby further amended by adding at the end of Chapter 20 the following:
41	41	11 (b) Any landlord who violates subsection (a), and who knew or reasonably should have
42	42	12known that said dwelling unit is being used for unlawfully manufacturing, storing, distribution,
43	43	13or using a controlled substance shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than the greater of:
44	44	14$1,000 for the first offense; $5,000 for the second offense; and $10,000 for each offense after;
45	45	15and possible forfeiture of said dwelling. If a civil penalty is calculated under this subsection and
46	46	16there is more than 1 defendant, the court may apportion the penalty between multiple violators,
47	47	17but each violator shall be jointly and severally liable for the civil penalty under this subsection.
48	48	18 (c) Penalties paid under this section shall be collected during time of sentencing and
49	49	19disbursed to the arresting agency to be used for drug awareness education or substance abuse
50	50	20counseling or advocacy for youths, parents and other interested adults.