Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

Chapter 93 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following section:-

Section 77. Every written lease or rental agreement of personal property used primarily for household or family use shall include a designation by the lessor identifying each item of such property as being either new or used property. Whoever so leases or rents personal property and fails to comply with the provisions of this section, whether by failing to include such designation or by intentionally making a false designation, shall be assessed a civil penalty of not more than five hundred dollars for each such violation. Each written lease or rental agreement which fails to conform to the provisions of this section shall constitute a separate violation.

The attorney general may bring an action in the name of the commonwealth against any person violating this section by applying for a temporary restraining order or a preliminary or permanent injunction prohibiting further such violations by said person and may petition the court for an assessment of the civil penalties provided for in this section. Such actions shall be brought in the superior court of the county in which the person charged with such violations has his principal place of business.

This section shall not apply to the lease or rental of motor vehicles, as defined in chapter ninety, personal property used in business or to the rental of tools or garden equipment.