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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2652 FILED ON: 1/16/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2542 |
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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 | | Priscila S. Sousa |
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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 to address state sanitation code violations regarding infestations of rental units. |
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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:Priscila S. Sousa6th Middlesex1/16/2025 1 of 4 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2652 FILED ON: 1/16/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2542 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Sousa of Framingham, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2542) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Priscila S. Sousa for legislation to address state sanitation code violations regarding infestations |
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| 20 | 20 | | of rental units. Public Health. |
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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-Fourth General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act to address state sanitation code violations regarding infestations of rental units. |
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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 Chapter 111 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2amended by inserting after Section 198, the following section:- |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3 SECTION 1: As used in the State Sanitary Code, the definition of “infestation” shall |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4mean: the presence of pests, or signs of their presence in a quantity large enough that the |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5occupant of the dwelling unit has or would have knowledge and has had or would have had to |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6take beyond reasonable measures to cope and mitigate the issue. |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7 SECTION 2: Notwithstanding, any general or special law to the contrary, any tenant that |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8asserts that an infestation is present in the tenant’s dwelling unit shall: (1) immediately provide |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9notice to the owner in writing after becoming aware of the presence of pests; (2) allow the |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10owner, as well as its agents, inspectors, certified applicators, and contractors, to ender the |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11dwelling unit to perform inspections, repairs, exterminations, and applications, upon not less than |
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| 40 | 40 | | 1224 hours notice; (3) within a reasonable period of time after receipt of notice from the certified 2 of 4 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13applicator, comply with any and all protocols and instructions afforded to the tenant by the |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14certified applicator (4) removing unreasonable amounts of personal property which are deemed |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15to be interfering with the proper treatment of the infestation by the certified applicator. |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16 No tenant shall interfere with the certified applicator’s performance of any extermination |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17or inspection. |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18 Any tenant that fails to provide access to the dwelling unit, interferes with any inspection |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19or extermination, or fails to comply with the protocols and/or instructions of the certified |
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| 48 | 48 | | 20applicator, shall be responsible for any actual and consequential damages incurred by the owner |
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| 49 | 49 | | 21as a result of such denials. In addition, an owner shall be entitled to the issuance of injunctive |
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| 50 | 50 | | 22relief against any such tenant, including an order prohibiting a tenant from occupying a dwelling |
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| 51 | 51 | | 23unit during the period that the certified applicator is performing any required exterminations. |
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| 52 | 52 | | 24 SECTION 3: Notwithstanding any special or general law to the contrary, at such time as |
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| 53 | 53 | | 25an owner shall have actual or constructive knowledge of the infestation in a dwelling unit, the |
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| 54 | 54 | | 26owner shall be required to maintain the dwelling unit free of an infestation. |
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| 55 | 55 | | 27 Within 5 business days of receiving a notice from any tenant of an infestation, the owner |
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| 56 | 56 | | 28shall perform a visual inspection of the dwelling unit. In the event the owner observes an |
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| 57 | 57 | | 29infestation in the dwelling unit, the owner shall commence the extermination protocol and notify |
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| 58 | 58 | | 30the tenants of any surrounding units. In the event the owner is issued a citation by any state, city, |
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| 59 | 59 | | 31or town inspector indicating the existence of an infestation, the owner shall commence the |
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| 60 | 60 | | 32extermination protocol. |
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| 61 | 61 | | 33 In the event that an infestation is present in a dwelling unit within a building with a |
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| 62 | 62 | | 34manager or organization of unit owner as defined by section 1 of chapter 183A of the General 52 3 of 4 |
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| 63 | 63 | | 35Laws, the owner of the infested unit shall immediately provide notice to the manager or |
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| 64 | 64 | | 36organization of unit owners, who shall then provide notice in writing to the surrounding units. |
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| 65 | 65 | | 37An owner shall be deemed to have constructive knowledge of an infestation in the event the |
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| 66 | 66 | | 38owner is aware of an infestation in any surrounding unit. |
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| 67 | 67 | | 39 SECTION 4. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, within 10 |
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| 68 | 68 | | 40business days of actual or constructive knowledge of an infestation, the owner shall retain the |
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| 69 | 69 | | 41services of a certified applicator to inspect the dwelling unit to confirm the presence of an |
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| 70 | 70 | | 42infestation. In the event the certified applicator fails to observe an infestation, the owner shall |
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| 71 | 71 | | 43have no further obligation to perform further inspections for pests in the dwelling unit unless the |
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| 72 | 72 | | 44tenant provides the owner with a written report from a certified applicator identifying the |
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| 73 | 73 | | 45existing of an infestation in the dwelling unit. |
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| 74 | 74 | | 46 In the event a certified applicator identifies an infestation in a dwelling unit, the owner |
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| 75 | 75 | | 47shall perform such treatments and extermination services as may be required by the certified |
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| 76 | 76 | | 48applicator. The owner shall then perform such further treatments and exterminator services as |
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| 77 | 77 | | 49may be required by the certified applicator until such time as the control of the pests shall be |
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| 78 | 78 | | 50deemed to be completed. |
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| 79 | 79 | | 51 The owner shall perform a visual inspection for an infestation no later than 30 days after |
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| 80 | 80 | | 52the certified applicator indicates that the control of the infestation has been completed. In the |
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| 81 | 81 | | 53event that the owner fails to observe the presence of an infestation at such inspection and tenant |
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| 82 | 82 | | 54fails to provide proof that an infestation is still present, the extermination shall be complete. |
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| 83 | 83 | | 55 SECTION 5. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, prior to entering |
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| 84 | 84 | | 56into a lease agreement with a tenant for an unoccupied unit, an owner shall perform a visual 4 of 4 |
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| 85 | 85 | | 57inspection of the dwelling unit that is subject to said lease and verify in writing to the tenant that |
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| 86 | 86 | | 58the dwelling unit is free of an infestation. |
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| 87 | 87 | | 59 In the event the owner observes the presence of pests or other evidence of the existence |
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| 88 | 88 | | 60of pests in the dwelling unit upon visual inspection, the owner shall commence the extermination |
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| 89 | 89 | | 61protocol set forth in sections 2 and 3 of this act before the lease agreement is signed. |
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| 90 | 90 | | 62 In the event a lease agreement is entered into by an owner and tenant and the owner fails |
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| 91 | 91 | | 63to provide written verification that the dwelling unit is free of an infestation at time of signing, |
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| 92 | 92 | | 64the tenant shall not be held liable for any actual or consequential damages caused by an |
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| 93 | 93 | | 65infestation if said infestation is confirmed within 30 days of signing. |
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| 94 | 94 | | 66 SECTION 6. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, no owner shall |
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| 95 | 95 | | 67be liable for any actual or consequential damages caused by an infestation unless the owner fails |
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| 96 | 96 | | 68to comply with the requirements of this act. |
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| 97 | 97 | | 69 Nothing herein shall prevent the owner and tenant from entering into an agreement |
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| 98 | 98 | | 70assigning other duties and obligations in relation to the costs and duties pertaining to infestation |
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| 99 | 99 | | 71controls. |
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