Section 24. Whoever conducts a lodging house without a license shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred nor more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than three months, or both. Upon the complaint of an aggrieved party, the licensing authority or an officer of a city or town wherein such unlicensed lodging house is conducted, a justice of the housing court division or the superior court division of the trial court, may enjoin the conducting of any unlicensed lodging house and may make such other orders as the court may deem equitable to enforce the provisions of sections twenty-two to thirty-one, inclusive.

Terms Used In Massachusetts General Laws ch. 140 sec. 24

  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
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