Settlements & Awards
Recent Victories and Settlements
In a case where a financial institution foreclosed on the landlord’s property and then refused to communicate with the tenant’s Section 8 office causing the Tenant to lose her subsidy, we obtained a settlement for $300,000, waiver of thousands of dollars of owed rent, and transfer of the property to the tenant (2025).
In a case where a landlord employed a debt collector to place a debt of $38,000 on the tenant’s credit report after agreeing to waive the debt, we received a judgment after trial of over $180,000 for the tenant (2024).
In ten cases where the entities known as Springfield Gardens systemically failed to repair substandard conditions and “milked” properties in Springfield, we settled 10 cases for a total of $450,000 as part of a coordinated and ultimately successful effort to force the landlord to sell properties to local landlords (2023-2024).
In a case spanning ten years of litigation where the owner of multiple Springfield mobile home parks unlawfully overcharged mobile home park residents, we obtained two favorable Appeals Courts decisions and settled the case for almost $600,000 with refunds over $1000 to most residents (2014-2024).
In a case where a landlord failed to eradicate pests in a tenant’s apartment, we reached a settlement with a large-scale landlord for over $40,000 fo the tenant (2023).
In a case where a tenant’s landlord failed to repair substandard conditions in a Holyoke unit, we reached a settlement for $70,000 for the tenant (2023).
Attorney Doug Mishkin is a member of the Egremont Municipal Affordable Housing Trust, which succeeded in winning overwhelming approval of three housing-related initiatives at a special town meeting: (1) approval of a proposal to build four units of workforce housing on town-owned land; (2) adoption of the Community Preservation Act (which now proceeds to a vote at the town election in May 2025); and (c) adoption of the Affordable Housing Property Tax Exemption, exempting from property taxes any property that is long-term leased to an income-qualified tenant at an affordable rent (October 2024).
In a case where a tenant who lived in squalid conditions after a financial institution foreclosed the property and did not attempt to repair any substandard conditions, we reached a settlement for over $200,000 for the tenant (2022).
In a case where a bank failed to repair substandard conditions following a foreclosure, we reached a $120,000 settlement for a longstanding tenant (2022).
In a case where a landlord refused to accommodate a tenant’s need for a pet and attempted to evict the tenant because of the pet, we reached a $100,000 settlement for the tenant (2022).
In a case where a new owner deceptively attempted to evict a former homeowner by threatening forcible removal without legal process, we reached a $75,000 settlement for the tenant (2022).
In a case where a bank failed to repair substandard conditions following a foreclosure, we reached a $55,000 settlement for the tenant (2021).
In a case where a landlord sprayed toxic polyurethane foam to address the lack of heat in a tenant’s apartment, we settled for $120,000 for the tenant (October 2021).
In a case where a large-scale landlord failed to remediate serious gas and water leaks, sewage backups, and non-functional bathroom facilities, we reached two separate settlements of $42,000 and $45,000 for the tenants (2021).
In a case where Settled a case for over $85,000 from a financial institution for tenants who had been living in condemned housing in Greenfield (2021).
In a case where a Chicopee landlord faced allegations of abusive behavior, racial comments, locking out tenants without judicial process, and illegally barring visitors, we reached a $47,500 settlement for the tenants (2021).
In a case where a bank foreclosed on a tenant’s home and failed to repair serious substandard conditions, we reached a $120,000 settlement for the tenant (2019)
In a case where a city brought a bad conditions case against a landlord after foreclosure, the tenants intervened and settled for the transfer of the-family house to them for free, in addition to a cash payment and waiver of rent totaling $37,500 (2019).
In a case where the landlord delayed necessary repairs and repeatedly threatened to cut off the tenant’s utilities, we obtained a settlement of over $90,000 (June 2019).
In a case where it was alleged that a landlord illegally raised lot rents for 115 mobile home park residents by trying to pass certain costs onto the residents, we reached a $590,000 settlement for the residents (June 2018).
In the City of Springfield v. Reed Hosten, the Court awarded damages of $69,026.80 to a tenant family displaced by a condemnation due to lack of heat, roaches, and other substandard conditions (2017).
In a class action case where a landlord made nearly 200 mobile home park residents pay for utilities without proper metering, imposed illegal late rent charges, and violated a number of other landlord-tenant laws and mobile home park regulations, we reached a $200,000 settlement on behalf of the residents (May 2015).
In a case where a landlord failed to repair water leaks, exterminator cockroaches and bedbugs, and address other problems in a tenant’s apartment, and who unlawfully retaliated against the tenant by evicting her and throwing away her family’s belongings within days of her call to the local Board of Health, we won a judgment of more than $90,000 for the tenant (January, 2015).
In a case where landlord Fannie Mae failed to make prompt repairs to a tenant’s home and allowed substandard conditions to persist, the Housing Court awarded the tenant over $38,000, plus attorneys fees and costs (May 2014).
In a case where a landlord allowed deplorable conditions, including persistent water leaks and destruction of property, in a Leverett home, we obtained a judgment of more than $80,000 for the tenant (April 2014).
In a case where landlord Fannie Mae refused to repair three tenants’ apartments and allowed cockroach and other vermin infestations to persist for years, The Court awarded the three tenants over $120,000 (July 2013).
In a case where a landlord failed to eradicate a bedbug and cockroach infestation in a tenant’s apartment, we reached a settlement of $80,000 (February 2013).
In a class action case for where an employer failed to pay 80 salespeople minimum wage and overtime, in violation of federal and state law, we reached a class action settlement of $240,000 (February 2012).
Notable Court Rulings from Our Cases
Hayastan Industries, Inc. v. Henault, 20 P 951 & 20 P 1339 (2022). The Appeals Court affirmed a Housing Court ruling that the Springfield Mobile Home Rent Control Board had illegally allowed the owner of a mobile home park a 10% “automatic” management fee. The Court also found that the Board had created an illegal formula for determining rents. The rent amount awarded was invalidated and the tenants seek the return of this overpayment.
Peeples v. Clinical Support Options, Inc., Case No. 3:20-cv-30144-KAR (2020). The Court granted a temporary restraining order requiring the employer to reasonably accommodate the employee’s asthma during the COVID-19 pandemic by permitting the employee to continue to telework. The employer’s denial of that request because all managers were required to return to the office was likely to fail at trial, because the employer failed to consider the employee’s request on an individualized basis or to show that doing so would be an undue hardship for the employer.
Rental Property Management Services v. Hatcher, 479 Mass. 542 (2018). Ahmed-Kagzi v. Williams, 479 Mass. 1027 (2018). In an eviction case brought by a property manager rather than the owner, the Supreme Judicial Court found that a judge must dismiss the eviction action if the property manager is not the owner or lessor. The Court also found that if a corporation brings a case without counsel, litigated by a person related to the corporation, the eviction is the unauthorized practice of law and the judge must take corrective action.
Fannie Mae v. Nuñez, 460 Mass. 511 (2011). In an eviction case brought by a bank against its tenant, our firm successfully argued to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that a new eviction statute protecting tenants after foreclosures should apply retroactively and protect tenants already facing evictions from banks that foreclosed on their landlords.
Bobby T. Brown vs. F.L. Roberts & Co., Inc., 452 Mass. 674 (2008). In an employment case, we successfully argued that a business’s policy on employee grooming discriminated against our client on the basis of his religious beliefs, in violation of the Massachusetts anti-discrimination law.
Awards
Originally founded by former legal services attorneys in 1996, our firm has a distinguished history working on behalf of tenants, employees, and consumers throughout western Massachusetts. In recognition of our work, the firm has been the proud recipients of many honors and awards.
Access to Justice Pro Bono Publico Award, Massachusetts Bar Association (2021)
Excellence in Pro Bono Award, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (2017)
Pro Bono Award, Women’s Bar Foundation (2014)
Louis M. Brown Award for Legal Access, Meritorious Recognition Recipient, American Bar Association (2009)
Access to Justice Award, Massachusetts Bar Association (2008)
John and John Quincy Adams Pro Bono Publico Award, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (2006)