I'm curious less from a "making you whole" perspective and more from the he committed fraud perspective and would like to see him punished.

I wouldn't want to punish the tenant for the old crappy landlord.

After his punishment he had to come apologize, and the parents never seem to have considered a lawsuit.

Until the punishment is made to fit the crime they won't think twice about doing it.

Most people seem to think a state that punishes bad landlords is unfriendly when good landlords in the same state feel the state is friendly to them.

Now, perhaps we could have evicted them in the middle of March once we realized she wasn't going to pay March rent, but that seems like a huge hassle.Basically we wanted to punish the one tenant who refused to pay her portion of the last month's rent and flag her as a BAD TENANT so that other landlords will know to avoid her.

from MassLegalHelp:"Whoever conducts a lodging house without a license shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred or more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than three months, or both."

It is punishable by a fine not to exceed $250,000 and/or a prison sentence of not more than two years."

The Peidra del Sol management basically told me they will not penalize the roommate (her school record) at all unless my cousin in law defaults, and then they both get punished together.What kind of system is this?

Hope that gets some extra deals for buyers on here while punishing those bad apples.