Kenney v. Rust

Four tenants brought an action to recover damages against their landlord and his managing agent 1 resulting from a fire in their apartments. The complaint alleged negligence in maintaining the building’s heating system. Interrogatories were filed by both the plaintiffs and the defendants, but the latter ignored the discovery requests of the plaintiffs and were defaulted pursuant to Mass.R.Civ.P. 33(a), as appearing in 368 Mass. 906 (1976). A motion to vacate the defaults was denied. After a hearing on damages pursuant to Mass.R.Civ.P. 55(b)(2), 365 Mass. 822 (1974), a judge in the Superior…