Murphy v. Miller

Through two actions filed in District Court, a landlord sought to collect $300 in past rent from one tenant, and $900 from another. Both tenants counterclaimed based on the substandard condition of their premises and had the cases transferred to Housing Court. After trial, the court entered judgments that required the landlord to pay the tenants a total of almost $30,000 in damages, attorney’s fees, and costs. In these consolidated appeals, the landlord claims that the Housing Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to hear the tenants’ counterclaims. Specifically, the landlord argues that…