Hold government accountable for corruption

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HD4939

Tort Reform Legislation

Section 10 of Chapter 258 of the General Laws, as appearing in the

latest official edition, is hereby amended by striking out Sections E

and F and inserting in place thereof the following -

(E) Any Municipal government or State agency/department within the

Commonwealth, shall be considered legally and financially liable for

any claims based upon the issuance of a certificate of occupancy when

a home or building has either not been completely and/or fully

inspected and/or all documents required in the building/ inspection

process have not or are not completed or signed as required at the

time of the building/inspection process as is required under

Massachusetts Law.

Should a Municipal and/or State inspector have knowledge or become

knowledgeable in any way that a home or building does not meet the

state building code requirements but allows a certificate of

occupancy to be issued for the property, the employing responsible

Municipal government and/or State agency/department within the

Commonwealth will also be considered legally and financially liable

because they allowed Massachusetts Law to be broken.

(E)(1) Any Municipal inspector who allows any one of these actions in

Section E to happen, shall be referred to the Public Integrity

Section of the Criminal Division of the Massachusetts Attorney

General to hold a hearing, open to the public, that will determine if

the inspector should have their construction supervisors license

suspended for a minimum of 30 and a maximum of 180 days for the first

offense. Should another occurrence of any of these actions take

place, the before mentioned Public Integrity Section will hold a

hearing, open to the public, to determine if the inspector will have

their construction supervisor license revoked for life and their

employment terminated.

Any State licenses the building inspector has that are a requirement

for their inspection position will also be forfeited, after due

consideration from a hearing, open to the public, before the ,

Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division of the

Massachusetts Attorney General for a minimum of 180 days for the

first offense and for life for any other offense.

( E)( 2 ) Any State building inspector who becomes knowledgeable, in

any way, of a situation where a home or building was given a

certificate of occupancy under any condition specified in Section E

and either takes no action or fails to write a report of the incident

within thirty days of them becoming knowledgeable, with all

supporting documentation, shall be immediately suspended for a

minimum of 30 days and a maximum of 180 days (with pay). A hearing,

open to the public, by Public Integrity Section of the Criminal

Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General the will decide

whether the inspector will have their construction supervisors

license suspended for the same amount of time.

Should another occurrence of any of these actions take place, the

State inspector will have their license revoked for life and their

employment terminated if so determined after a hearing by the Public

Integrity Section of the Criminal Division of the Massachusetts

Attorney General. This hearing will be open to the public.

(E)(3) No Municipal government or State agency/department shall

revoke the certificate of occupancy that is in violation of any part

of Section E unless the homeowner, building owner, renter or lease is

given free accommodations, paid by the offending Municipality or

State agency, at a location that the injured party agrees to and is,

at a minimum, either equal to or greater than the property in

question.

(E)(4) Any homeowner, building owner, renter or lease that owns or

occupies a home or building that is in violation of any part of

Section E will be allowed to bring civil actions against either/both

the offending municipality and/or the State in either State Superior

Court or U.S. District Court.

(E)(4)(a) Should a homeowner, building owner, renter or lease be

successful in their lawsuit, their legal and attorney fees will be

paid by the defendant parties. This payment will be added to the

judgment award.

(E)(4)( Any settlements, awards or judgments a plaintiff is

entitled to will be exempt from any and all Municipal/State taxes,

liens or fees.

(E)(5) There shall be no statute of limitations for the filing of any

claims for any violations of Section E.

(F) All Municipal governments or State agency/departments in the

Commonwealth shall be considered legally and financially liable for

any claim based upon the failure to inspect, or an inadequate or

negligent inspection of any property, real or personal, to determine

whether the property complies with or violated any law, regulation,

ordinance or code, or contains a hazard to health or safety.

(F)(l) No Municipal government or State agency/department shall

revoke the certificate of occupancy that is in violation of any part

of Section F unless the homeowner, building owners, renters or lease

is given free accommodations, paid by the offending municipality or

State agency, at a location that the injured party agrees to and is,

at a minimum, either equal to or greater than the property in

question.

(F)(2) All previsions of (E)(4)(a) through (E)(4)( will prevail in

this section as well.

(F)(3) There shall be no statute of limitations for the filing of any

claims for any violations of Section F.

(G) (1) In the event that a home or building contains mold that was a

by product, or the result, of construction that is in violation of

any local, state or federal building, fire, construction, health,

plumbing, electrical or safety codes, and this illegal construction

was known or observed, or should have been known or observed or seen,

during the construction phase by representatives of the municipal

and/or state inspectors, the owner of the property affected shall

have full legal and financial recourse against the municipality

and/or state without any statute of limitations in effect.

(G) (2) Should any portion of the municipality and/or state have been

made aware of the presence or suspicion of mold, in any way and at

any time without any statute of limitations in effect, by the

affected owner of the property, or their representatives, the

municipal and/or state government shall be legally and financially

liable in all aspects and loses, injuries or health related costs or

legal costs or other financial loses suffered by the property owner.

(G) (3) Should either subsections (1) or (2) be relevant, the

property owner will be awarded the sum of one thousand dollars, by

the municipality or their agents, for each day that the code

violations were known or suspected by the municipality or their

inspectors and the sum of five thousand dollars by the state or their

agents for each day that the code violations were known or suspected

by the state or their inspectors.

(G) (4) This Section shall override any other Massachusetts law that

holds inspectors and/or the employing municipality or state entity

not liable for failures to inspect or for faulty, inaccurate or

incomplete inspections.