Housing

If a judge has given your landlord the right to evict you, you can use this interview to appeal or ask for a stay (temporary delay) in your eviction.

It will help you make a motion for the appeals court and a notice of appeal that will be filed with the trial court. It can also make a request for a fee waiver (affidavit of indigency).

The motion is filed with the Appeals Court and can be efiled.

If you are a tenant who has a deadline to move, because of the court or your housing authority, you can use this form to keep track of the apartments you contact, visit, or apply to rent. This form can help you show the court or housing authority that you are actively looking for housing.

For example, you may want to use this if:

• You have a deadline to use your Section 8 voucher and want to apply for an extension, or
• A judge ordered you to move, or you agreed to move, and you need more time.

You can come back to this interview more than once to build a record of all of the places you visit and apply to.

This interview will help you ask the court for emergency help to stop your landlord from:

• Locking you out of your home without a court order
• Shutting off your utilities
• Entering your home without permission
• Violating your right to "quiet enjoyment" of your home

You may also use this interview to ask the court to order your landlord to make repairs to your home or to pay you money.

If your situation is more complex, you may want to use GetUpToCode instead. GetUpToCode can help you with more options to find and report housing problems, including the problems listed above.

This form will help you draft a demand letter to send to your landlord if they have not returned your security deposit within 30 days after your lease ended. If your landlord does not return your deposit, you may get up to 3 times your deposit back from your landlord as a penalty.

If you are a tenant who missed an eviction hearing and the court entered a default judgment against you, you can use this form to ask the court to remove the default judgment and give you a new hearing.

This form is for tenants who have a good reason for missing the hearing and a defense for why they should not be evicted.

If it is not safe for you to be in your home with your spouse or co-parent, this interview helps you ask the court to order the other side in your family law case to:

• leave your home or
• stay away from your home if they already left

If you are getting evicted in Massachusetts, you can use MADE to defend against your eviction case (also called summary process). It will help you make an Answer and Discovery form and other forms you may need to file in court. MADE will also help you gather information to help you defend your case.

There are also special defenses in MADE for homeowners after a foreclosure.

Most tenants who use MADE will get an extension of 2 weeks in their court hearing date in order to allow them to get more information to defend their case.