Following up on their significant victory from just last month, the team of Attorneys Gregg Corbo and Jeffrey Blake successfully defended the Town of Essex against claims for reduction in rents for eight parcels of Town-owned land. Tried as a class action, the plaintiffs were tenants who have built cottages on portions of Town-owned land in a waterfront area known as Conomo Point. The tenants claimed the town violated a special act of the Legislature by charging them rents that exceed the fair market rental values for property. After three days of trial, the Court sided with the Town, finding that the Town’s process for establishing rents was “more than fair” and consistent with the Town’s statutory obligations. Over the course of two years, the Court’s ruling preserves about three-quarters of a million dollars in revenue for the Town.
