Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 239 § 16

Current through Chapter 223 of the 2024 Legislative Session

Section 239:16 - [Effective 5/3/2025] Petitions to seal court record

(a) For the purposes of this section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise:-

"Consumer report", a written, oral or other communication of any information by a consumer reporting agency bearing on a person's credit worthiness, credit standing or credit capacity that is used or expected to be used or collected, in whole or in part, for the purpose of serving as a factor in establishing the person's eligibility for rental housing or other purposes authorized under section 51 of chapter 93.

"Consumer reporting agency", an individual, partnership, corporation, trust, estate, cooperative, association, government or governmental subdivision or agency or other entity that, for monetary fees, dues or on a cooperative nonprofit basis, regularly engages, in whole or in part, in the practice of assembling or evaluating consumer credit information or other information on consumers for the purpose of furnishing consumer reports to third parties.

"Court", the trial court of the commonwealth established pursuant to section 1 of chapter 211B and any departments or offices established within the trial court.

"Court record", any paper or electronic records or data in any communicable form compiled by, on file with or in the care custody or control of, the court that concern a person and relate to the nature or disposition of an eviction action or a lessor action.

"Eviction action", a summary process action under this chapter to recover possession of residential premises.

"Lessor action", any civil action brought against the owner, manager or lessor of residential premises by the tenant or occupant of such premises relating to or arising out of such property, rental, tenancy or occupancy for breach of warranty, breach of any material provision of the rental agreement or violation of any other law.

"No-fault eviction", an eviction action in which the notice to quit, notice of termination or complaint does not include an allegation of nonpayment of rent or violation of any material term of the tenancy by the tenant or occupant; provided, however, that a "no-fault eviction" shall include an action brought after termination of a tenancy for economic, business or other reasons not constituting a violation of the terms of the tenancy.

(b) A person having a court record of a no-fault eviction on file in a court may petition the court to seal the court record at any time after the conclusion of the action, including exhaustion of all rights of appeal. The petition shall be on a form furnished by the trial court of the commonwealth, signed under the penalties of perjury and filed in the same court as the action sought to be sealed. If an action was active in more than 1 court during its pendency, a petition may be filed in each such court. Notice shall be given to parties to the original action. The court shall comply with the petitioner's request to seal the court record pursuant to this subsection; provided, however, that the record only pertains to a no-fault eviction and the action to which the record relates has concluded with all rights of appeal exhausted. If no objection is filed by a party within 7 days of filing the petition, such court may, in its discretion, process such petitions administratively without a hearing.

(c) A person having a court record in an eviction action for nonpayment f rent on file in a court may, on a form furnished by the trial court and signed under the penalties of perjury, petition the court to seal the court record. The petition shall be filed in the same court as the action sought to be sealed. If an action was active in more than 1 court during its pendency, a petition may be filed in each such court. Notice shall be given to parties to the original action. The court shall comply with the petitioner's request to seal the court record pursuant to this subsection; provided, however, that the action to which the record relates concluded, including exhaustion of all rights of appeal, not less than 4 years before the request and no eviction action for nonpayment or lessor action has been brought against the petitioner within the commonwealth in the 4 years preceding the request; provided further, that the petitioner certifies on the petition that the nonpayment of rent was due to an economic hardship and such economic hardship has rendered them unable to satisfy the judgment. If no objection is filed by a party, the court may, in its discretion, process such petitions administratively without a hearing. If an objection is filed by a party, within 7 days of filing the petition, the court shall conduct a hearing to determine the petitioner's compliance with the foregoing conditions and may require the petitioner to complete a financial statement on a form furnished by the trial court.

(d) A person having a court record of a fault eviction on file in a court may, on a form furnished by the trial court and signed under the penalties of perjury, petition the court to seal the court record. The petition shall be filed in the same court as the action sought to be sealed. If an action was active in more than 1 court during its pendency, a petition may be filed in each such court. Notice shall be given to parties to the original action. The court shall comply with the petitioner's request to seal the court record pursuant to this subsection; provided, however, that the action to which the record relates concluded, including exhaustion of all rights of appeal, not less than 7 years before the request and no eviction action for fault or lessor action has been brought against the petitioner within the commonwealth in the 7 years preceding the request. If no objection is filed by a party, within 7 days of filing the petition, the court may, in its discretion, process such petitions administratively without a hearing.

(e) A person having a court judgment against them in a civil action commenced pursuant to section 19 of chapter 139 on file in a court may, on a form furnished by the trial court and signed under the penalties of perjury, petition the court to seal the court record. The petition shall be filed in the same court as the action sought to be sealed. If an action was active in more than 1 court during its pendency, a petition may be filed in each such court. Notice shall be given to parties to the original action. The court shall schedule a hearing to determine whether:

(i) the action to which the record relates concluded, including exhaustion of all rights of appeal, not less than 7 years before the request and no eviction action for fault, or action pursuant to said section 19 of said chapter 139, has been brought against the petitioner within the commonwealth in the 7 years preceding the request, and such petitioner has not been convicted of any criminal offense referenced in said section 19 of said chapter 139 during such 7-year period; and

(ii) the sealing of such record is in the interest of justice and public safety. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, where the plaintiff did not obtain a judgment in its favor, the defendant may petition to seal the court record at any time after the conclusion of the action, including exhaustion of all rights of appeal.

(e 1/2) A person having a court record of an eviction action that resulted in a dismissal or final judgment in favor of the defendant may petition the court to seal the court record at any time after the conclusion of the action, which shall include exhaustion of all rights of appeal. The petition shall be on a form furnished by the trial court, signed under the penalties of perjury and filed in the same court as the action sought to be sealed was initially filed. If the action was active in more than 1 court during its pendency, a petition may be filed in each such court. Notice to parties of the original action shall not be required. The court may, in its discretion, process the petition administratively without a hearing.

(f) Upon motion and for good cause shown, or as otherwise authorized by this section, court records sealed under this section may, at the discretion of the court and upon a balancing of the interests of the litigants and the public in nondisclosure of the information with the interests of the requesting party, be made available for public safety, scholarly, educational, journalistic or governmental purposes only; provided, however, that the personal identifying information of the parties involved in the action shall remain sealed unless the court determines that release of such information is appropriate under this subsection and necessary to fulfill the purpose of the request. Nothing in this subsection shall permit the release of personal identifying information for commercial purposes.

(g) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the dissemination of information contained in a record sealed pursuant to this section as the court deems necessary or appropriate:

(i) for the collection of a money judgment;

(ii) to pursue a criminal investigation;

(iii) to pursue a criminal prosecution; or

(iv) where information in the sealed record was entered into evidence in a criminal prosecution that resulted in a criminal charge.

(h) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a person or their representative from petitioning the court to obtain access to sealed eviction records in which the person is a party.

(i) A consumer reporting agency shall not disclose the existence of, or information regarding, an eviction record sealed under this section or use information contained in a sealed court record as a factor to determine any score or recommendation to be included in a consumer report unless the court record was available for inspection with the court within 30 days of the report date. A consumer reporting agency may include in a consumer report information found in publicly available court records; provided, however, that the consumer report shall include a person's full name, whether an eviction action was a fault eviction, a no-fault eviction or a lessor action and the outcome of any eviction action if such information is contained in the publicly-available court record. Information contained in a court record sealed under this section shall be removed from the consumer report or from the calculation of any score or recommendation to be included in a consumer report within 30 days of the sealing of the court record from which it is derived. Any consumer reporting agency that violates this subsection shall be liable to the person who is the subject of the consumer report in an amount equal to the sum of any actual damages sustained by the consumer as a result of the violation and the costs of the action, including reasonable attorney's fees. The attorney general shall enforce this subsection, and the remedies provided hereunder shall not be exclusive. Nothing in this subsection shall waive the rights or remedies of any person under any other law or regulation.

(j) An application used to screen applicants for housing or credit that seeks information concerning prior eviction actions of the applicant shall include the following statement: "An applicant for housing or credit with a sealed record on file with the court pursuant to section 16 of chapter 239 of the General Laws may answer 'no record' to an inquiry relative to that sealed court record." No party shall be liable for any violation of the foregoing provision unless such party has first been issued a written warning from the attorney general and has failed to address the violation within 90 days of such notice.

The petition provided by the court for the sealing of records as provided under this section and any order granting such petition shall contain the following notice: "An applicant for housing or credit with a sealed record on file with the court pursuant to section 16 of chapter 239 of the General Laws may answer 'no record' to an inquiry relative to that sealed court record."

(k) A party who obtains a judgment or enters into an agreement in an eviction action solely for nonpayment of rent shall, not more than 14 days after satisfaction of the judgment or agreement, file with the court in which the judgment or agreement was entered a notice of satisfaction of the judgment or agreement. A party that has satisfied such judgment or agreement may, upon noncompliance with this subsection by the other party, file a petition for the judgment or agreement to be deemed satisfied, with notice to the parties to such action. The court shall comply with the petitioner's request; provided, however, that the record only pertains to an action for nonpayment of rent and the judgment or agreement has been satisfied. If no objection is filed by a party within 7 days of filing the petition, the court may, in its discretion, process such petition administratively without a hearing. Upon the filing of a notice of satisfaction of judgment or an agreement, or court judgment deeming the judgment or agreement satisfied, a party may petition the court to seal the court record pertaining to that action. The petition shall be on a form furnished by the trial court, signed under the penalties of perjury and filed in the same court as the action sought to be sealed. If an action was active in more than 1 court during its pendency, a petition may be filed in each such court. Notice shall be given to the parties to the original action. The court shall comply with the petitioner's request and seal the court record if the judgment or agreement has been satisfied and the action has concluded, with all rights of appeal exhausted and with no objection filed by a party within 7 days of filing the petition. The court may process such petitions administratively without a hearing.

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 239, § 239:16

Added by Acts 2024, c. 150,§ 52, eff. 5/3/2025.