Transitional Housing
Transitional housing is a program that provides temporary housing and services to families and individuals as they look for permanent housing. In Massachusetts, courts have found that people with government housing subsidies who live in transitional housing facilities are tenants and are entitled to protection against unfair evictions. This means that a landlord of a transitional housing facility must use the court's eviction process to evict a tenant in a transitional housing facility.17 Transitional housing facilities must also be in good condition and comply with the state Sanitary Code.
Tenancy by Regulation
Tenants who live in mobile homes or public or subsidized housing may have additional protections under various regulations. If this applies to you, then under the law you would be considered a tenant by regulation.18 If you live in a mobile home, see Chapter 19: Mobile Homes. If you live in public or subsidized housing, go to Finding Housing.
17 Serreze v. YWCA of Western Mass., 30 Mass. App. Ct. 639, 643 (1991). Someone who occupies premises under the Chapter 707 residential services program, 760 C.M.R. §38, should be considered a tenant and can be evicted only through summary process. The court further found that the occupant was a tenant and not a licensee. Marvin Carr v. Friends of Homeless, Hampden Housing Court, 89-LE-3492-S (Abrashkin, J., April 3, 1990).
18 Spence v. O'Brien, 15 Mass. App. Ct. 489, 496 (1983).
Produced by Pattie Whiting Created July 2008
