The Appeals Court has upheld the ruling of a superior court judge who refused to issue an injunction preventing the foreclosure of a condominium unit for unpaid common charges.
The Andover Gardens Condominium Trust filed a lawsuit (based on M.G.L. c. 183A, § 6) in district court after a unit owner failed to make common charge payments and ignored all delinquency notices.
The unit owner also failed to contest of the district court proceedings and the judge ultimately issued an order authorizing the foreclosure of the condominium.
After the order was issued, the unit owner filed a new lawsuit in superior court seeking an injunction preventing the foreclosure sale.
The superior court judge denied the injunction request before dismissing the lawsuit in its entirety.
The unit owner appealed the superior court’s decision. The Appeals Court upheld the decision, writing
Pursuant to Mass. R. Civ. P. 13 (a)… any defense that the plaintiff wanted to bring regarding that lien enforcement action should have been filed in the District Court where the defendant filed its action….”[A]ll claims arising out of the same facts should be heard, where possible, in the same proceeding”). Thus, “failure to plead a compulsory counterclaim bars a party from bringing a later independent action on that claim.” The plaintiff could not assert any claims in the Superior Court that he was required to assert as compulsory counterclaims in the District Court. Accordingly, we discern no error in the judgment of dismissal.
The full text of the court’s opinion is attached below.
Law Office of Justin R. McCarthy 