Breaking Ground
The Honorable Joseph L. Michaud Trial Court of Massachusetts, Southeast Housing Court
By Darryl Hicks
7 min read
Now that eviction moratoriums have expired across much of the country, there is growing concern about the impact this will have on families who are still struggling to pay rent. The New York Times recently reported that landlords are filing roughly 2,000 eviction cases a week, a 40 percent increase since mid-January, when the state’s eviction moratorium expired.
Where do eviction filings end up? In some places it’s called rent court. Others, eviction court. In Massachusetts, it’s called “Housing Court.”
To learn more about Massachusetts’ housing court system, Tax Credit Advisor interviewed The Honorable Joseph L. Michaud, associate housing court justice for the Southeast region of the Massachusetts Housing Court, who was nominated to the court by Governor Charlie Baker in 2018.
Judge Michaud has practiced law for almost 30 years. Before becoming a judge, he owned his own practice where he specialized in residential and commercial real estate transactions and landlord-tenant matters. Previously, he practiced at Sykes & Michaud and Saunders & Michaud, where he gained exposure to both civil and criminal litigation.
Judge Michaud is also a decorated retired member of the United States Army, having served on active duty intermittently for 30 years as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Judge Advocates General Corps.
Tax Credit Advisor: What exactly is housing court? What does it do?
Joseph Michaud: In Massachusetts, the housing court is a court of specific jurisdiction concerning matters involving residential housing.
TCA: Are the people who come before your court mostly tenants and landlords, or do you preside over cases involving homeowners, investors and other parties?
JM: The parties who generally appear before us are residential property owners (landlords) and the occupants (tenants). Generally these cases involve non-payment of rent, breach of quiet enjoyment (disturbance) and sanitary code violations. We also resolve issues involving health and safety code violations, zoning issues and other various issues related to housing.
TCA: How widespread is housing court? Are there housing courts in every state? Are judges, like yourself, elected or appointed by governors or local officials?
JM: The Massachusetts Housing Court has statewide jurisdiction. All Judges are appointed by the Governor subject to the approval of the nine-member Governor’s Council. There are Housing Courts in many states but as to an exact number I am unsure.
TCA: How does housing court compare to criminal court? Are there juries or do judges decide these cases? Do housing court cases take minutes to resolve, or hours or days?
JM: There is little comparison to a criminal court; however, there is to civil courts. Most actions start with a complaint being filed by the plaintiff and an answer filed by the defendant. Then after a brief period of discovery the matter is scheduled for an attempt at mediation and if that fails then for trial. We offer both litigants the right to a trial by jury. Because it is a “summary process” we process cases more expeditiously than a typical civil complaint brought in the District or Superior Courts, which often involve extended discovery. The litigants in Housing Court may choose either a judge or jury to serve as the fact finder in their respective cases. The vast majority of cases are tried before a judge, but we do have jury trials available. Depending on the complexity of the matter many cases are resolved through pre-trial mediation in which both parties sit and present their respective cases to a trained Housing Specialist who uses their training and experience to attempt to negotiate a settlement of the parties, which is then presented to the Court where, if approved, it becomes either an order of the court or an Agreement for Judgment.
TCA: Do tenants have the right to appeal decisions, or are the decisions you make final?
JM: Both parties may appeal any decision in our court provided that they file a timely notice of appeal and comply with the other appellate rules of procedure. Fortunately, most cases are not appealed.
TCA: Has COVID impacted the volume of cases coming before your court?
JM: COVID has had a significant impact on the functioning of our Court. While the volume of cases has remained consistent our ability to process the numbers of cases was temporarily diminished. By working together with members of the Office of Trial Courts, we expeditiously adopted an online format to meet, hear and resolve many, if not all matters. First, we shifted almost all hearings to Zoom, which allowed the parties to litigate motions and trials remotely. I am very proud of how the Courts (particularly Housing Court) shifted to this technology and really did not miss a step. Within a short period of time, we were caught up with delayed trial lists and litigants were minimally inconvenienced. Additionally, it should be noted that this technology has proven to be very popular with both the Courts (allowing us to cover several sessions almost simultaneously) and the litigants by allowing many people to present their side of a case without having to expose themselves to potential infection by others.
TCA: Has the nature of these cases changed at all over the past two years? For example, are you seeing more high-income people coming before your court vs. low-income?
JM: The nature of the cases hasn’t changed dramatically. While there was a brief increase in the number of cases initially due to the economic impact of COVID, a number of factors kept that from becoming unmanageable. First, the moratorium on evictions, both federally and later by the Commonwealth, gave people who had lost income some time to make adjustments and, secondly, the influx of additional funding from the federal and state governments Residential Assistance to Families in Transition (RAFT) and Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) funding), as well as private entities, such as Catholic Charities, Father Bills Place and others, provided resources to impacted residents to get them caught up on past due amounts and, in many cases, additional funds to pay rent for several months thereafter. Overall, these efforts have had a tremendous success in stabilizing and preserving the residential housing market by slowing or stopping evictions, which has a huge impact on the affected families, who in many cases would have been rendered homeless otherwise.
TCA: Are there any public metrics you can share about cases being brought through housing court, such as number of case files, percentage of cases involving renters vs. homeowners, or other relevant stats?
JM: All public metrics can be provided through our Clerks Office for Southeast Housing Court or the Administrative Office of the Housing Court in Boston for statewide metrics.
TCA: What noteworthy trends are you seeing and how do you see these trends evolving over the next 12 to 24 months?
JM: I see the Zoom platform staying in place for the future. While it was initially “force fed” to the Courts and litigants, now that people are used to using it they have come to appreciate how it increases productivity and allows both the Court and attorneys the ability to cover a much larger geographic footprint. I also see the beginning of a more permanent and readily available financial source of emergency assistance for tenants who have had adverse economic impact due to lost jobs, deaths of primary breadwinners, etc. This, I believe, will assist in stabilizing housing for those people so impacted, which is very important for those having a difficult time finding alternate housing, which is becoming a bigger issue every day. Probably the biggest issue that most of our litigants face is the lack of affordable low- income housing. In many cases, the owner of the property wants to reclaim possession for different reasons and the occupants simply cannot find another place to move to. As we all know, along with food, water and clothing, housing is one of life’s fundamental requirements and is a critical aspect of a stable and productive society. We all benefit from having a readily obtainable source of safe, clean and secure housing being available to all members of our community. Currently in many areas this is not the case. How we solve this crisis remains to be seen but it is a problem that will not be going away and represents a significant concern for everyone, rich or poor, going forward.
