WHAT THE WORDS MEAN

Also called 209A order, restraining order

An order against abuse between family or household members, which can require refraining from abuse and contact, vacating the household, and paying for losses the abuse caused.

Also called data breach, breach notice

What a person or agency that owns or licenses a resident's personal information gives notice of, as soon as practicable and without unreasonable delay, to the attorney general, the director of consumer affairs and business regulation, and the resident.

Also called self help repossession limit

The one condition on a secured party that takes collateral back without judicial process, such as a car bought on credit. It may do that only if it proceeds without breach of the peace.

Also called consumer protection act, demand letter

The consumer protection law making unfair or deceptive acts in trade or commerce unlawful; a consumer sends a written demand at least thirty days before suing.

Also called refusing the breath test, implied consent

Declining the breath or blood test a driver arrested for operating under the influence is deemed to consent to. Refusing suspends the license for at least 180 days, up to a lifetime loss.

Also called car seat, booster seat

The restraint a passenger under the age of 8 is fastened and secured by, according to the manufacturer's instructions, unless the passenger measures more than 57 inches in height.

Also called domestic abuse

A pattern of threatening, isolating, controlling or monitoring behavior that causes reasonable fear of harm or a reduced sense of safety or autonomy; it is one form of abuse an abuse prevention order reaches.

Also called harassment

Willfully and maliciously engaging in a knowing pattern of conduct over time, directed at a specific person, that seriously alarms them and would cause a reasonable person substantial emotional distress.

Also called fired for cause

Misconduct in wilful disregard of the employer's interest, one of the two reasons a discharged person is disqualified from benefits; the other is a knowing violation of a reasonable, uniformly enforced rule.

Also called sick leave, paid sick time

At least one hour for every thirty hours worked, accrued from hire and usable from the 90th calendar day of employment; at an employer of eleven or more, up to 40 hours a year are paid.

Also called Good Samaritan, helping at an accident, CPR

Care a person attempts in good faith and without compensation, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation or defibrillation. The person is not liable for acts or omissions resulting from the attempt, other than gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct.

Also called rent abatement, warranty of habitability

What the premises are worth in their condition. A tenant sued for possession may claim the difference between the agreed rent and the fair value as a defense or counterclaim.

Also called state prison offense

A crime punishable by death or imprisonment in the state prison; all other crimes are misdemeanors.

Also called phone while driving

The only way a driver may use a mobile electronic device; the driver may not hold one, or read or view text, images or video on one.

Also called initiation, pledging

Any conduct or method of initiation into a student organization, on public or private property, that wilfully or recklessly endangers the physical or mental health of a student or other person.

Also called secret recording, wiretap

Secretly hearing or secretly recording the contents of a wire or oral communication with a device, by anyone without prior authority from all parties to it.

Also called dying without a will, intestacy, heirs

What passes by law when a person dies without a will. The surviving spouse takes the entire intestate estate when there is no descendant and no parent, or when every descendant is also the spouse's and the spouse has no other.

Also called no fault divorce, 1A divorce, 1B divorce

The no fault ground for divorce, which can begin with a joint petition, a sworn affidavit and a notarized separation agreement, or with one spouse filing alone.

Also called theft, stealing

Stealing, obtaining property by a false pretense with intent to defraud, or converting another's property with intent to steal or embezzle.

Also called LTC, gun license

The license a lawful resident 21 or older may apply for to the local licensing authority, lasting no more than 6 years, which lets the holder buy, possess and carry firearms.

Also called 51A, child abuse report

A person who, in a professional capacity, has reasonable cause to believe a child is suffering abuse or neglect, and immediately communicates with the department orally and files a written report within 48 hours.

Also called cannabis, weed

A person 21 or older may possess, use, buy or make 2 ounces or less, keep up to 10 ounces at their primary residence, and grow up to 6 plants there for personal use.

Also called open meeting law notice, posted agenda

Notice of every meeting of a public body, posted at least 48 hours before it, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, with the date, time and place and the topics the chair reasonably anticipates will be discussed.

Also called fourteen day notice, eviction notice

The landlord's written notice ending a tenancy; for unpaid rent, a fourteen days' notice ends either a lease or a tenancy at will.

Also called alcohol in the car

An open container of an alcoholic beverage in the passenger area of a motor vehicle on a public way, which is punished by a fine.

Also called OUI, DUI, drunk driving

Operating a motor vehicle on a public way, or a place the public can use, with a blood alcohol percentage of eight one hundredths or greater, or under the influence of liquor, marijuana, narcotics, depressants or stimulants.

Also called released without bail, bail

Release without surety, which a person held under arrest gets unless the judicial officer decides it will not reasonably assure appearance in court.

Also called personnel file

The employer's record about an employee, which the employee may review within 5 business days of a written request, and must be told of within 10 days when anything negative goes in.

Also called drunk in public, PC

Help an officer may give a person incapacitated by alcohol, with or without consent, to their home, a treatment facility or a police station. A person taken to a station has the right to ask for a breath test.

Also called utility shutoff, interference

The tenant's right a landlord may not interfere with, including by willfully failing to furnish water, heat, light, power, gas or other required services.

Also called medical records fee, charge for records

What a health care provider may charge for furnishing a copy of a patient's records, as defined in the hospital records section the provision refers to.

Also called filming a public meeting

After notifying the chair, any person may make a video or audio recording of an open session, or transmit it through any medium, subject to the chair's reasonable requirements on the number, placement and operation of equipment.

Also called public records

The person at an agency or town who permits inspection or furnishes a copy of a public record without unreasonable delay and not later than 10 business days after a request that reasonably describes it.

Also called redemption, get the car back

To get collateral back by tendering fulfillment of all obligations it secures, plus the reasonable expenses and attorney's fees the Code describes. A debtor, a secondary obligor, or another secured party or lienholder may do it.

Also called retaliation, retaliatory eviction

A landlord's threat or action against a tenant for enforcing housing law, reporting a code violation, complaining in writing, or joining a tenants' union. A notice ending the tenancy within six months after is presumed to be one.

Also called resisting

Knowingly preventing or trying to prevent a police officer acting under color of official authority from arresting oneself or another, by using or threatening force, or by means creating a substantial risk of bodily injury.

Also called record sealing, clearing a record

Closing a criminal record, done by the commissioner of probation on a signed request once a misdemeanor record is 3 years old or a felony record 7, with no new conviction in that time.

Also called deposit, last month's rent

A deposit equal to no more than the first month's rent, which stays the tenant's property: the landlord holds it in a separate, interest bearing account in a Massachusetts bank, beyond the reach of the landlord's creditors.

Also called joint custody, legal custody

Both parents staying involved in major decisions about education, medical care and moral and religious development; parents have it temporarily while a case is pending, absent emergency, abuse or neglect.

Also called retail theft

Taking or concealing merchandise, switching price tags or containers, recording a lower price, or taking a shopping cart, with intent to deprive the merchant; under $250 a first offense is punished by a fine.

Also called small claims court

The simple, informal and inexpensive procedure for contract and tort claims where the plaintiff claims no more than $7,000.

Also called move in checklist, condition report

The signed statement of the unit's present condition, listing any existing damage, that the landlord gives with the deposit; the tenant has fifteen days to return it with a separate list.

Also called eviction case, eviction

The court action through which a landlord recovers possession after a notice to quit.

Also called month to month

A tenancy without a lease term, ended for a reason other than rent by written notice of the interval between rent days or thirty days, whichever is longer.

Also called lemon law

The lemon law period, one year or fifteen thousand miles from original delivery, whichever comes first, within which a reported nonconformity is repaired.

Also called section 12, mental health hold, taken in for an evaluation

Restraint and hospitalization for a 3-day period, applied for by a listed clinician who, after examining a person, has reason to believe that failing to hospitalize them would create a likelihood of serious harm by reason of mental illness. In an emergency, a police officer may do the same if none of them is available.

Also called triple damages, unpaid wages

Three times the lost wages and benefits, which an employee who wins a wage claim is awarded as liquidated damages, with costs and reasonable attorneys' fees.

Also called trespassing

Entering or remaining without right in another's dwelling, buildings, boats, or improved or enclosed land after being forbidden by the person in lawful control, directly or by a posted notice.

Also called lockout, self help eviction

Removing or shutting out a tenant other than under a valid court order. The tenant may recover possession or end the agreement, and recovers three months' rent or three times the damages either way.

Also called voluntary administration, small estate

An interested person who, after 30 days from a death and with no petition for a personal representative filed, files a sworn statement with the court and acts for an estate made up only of personal property, which may include a car the person owned and other personal property not exceeding $25,000 in value.