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Putting an End to Poison Pills: Prince Lobel Scores an SJC Victory for Condominium Owners

January 23, 2018

Last week, in Trustees of the Cambridge Point Condominium Trust v. Cambridge Point, LLC, et al., the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court found in favor of condominium trustees and concluded that anti-litigation provisions in the governing condominium documents were void because they “contravene public policy.”  It has become common for condominium developers to put these so-called “poison pills” in the governing documents to make it difficult, if not impossible, for condominium boards to seek redress for construction and design defects.

Prince Lobel attorneys Diane Rubin, chair of the firm’s Condominium Law Group, and Cailin Burke, litigation associate, worked with Thomas Moriarty and Kimberly Bielan of Moriarty Troyer & Malloy LLC, to co-author an amicus brief on behalf of the Real Estate Bar Association (REBA) and the Abstract Club.  The SJC ruling reversed the lower court’s decision and voided the anti-litigation provisions.  Rubin, who authored an article on the case for REBA News, wrote that the SJC’s decision is important because it “upholds the vital rights of condominium trustees to obtain redress for unsafe or uninhabitable building conditions and rejects attempts by developers to secretly shield themselves from any legal claims.”

To learn more about this issue, or about how Prince Lobel can assist you with all condominium-related matters or disputes, please contact Diane Rubin, chair of our Condominium Law Group, at 617.456.8042 or drubin@princelobel.com.

 

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