A landlord may not recover or take possession of a residential dwelling unit by (i) willful diminution of services to the tenant by interrupting or causing the interruption of electric, gas, water or other essential service required to be supplied by the landlord under a rental agreement or (ii) refusal to permit the tenant access to such unit unless such refusal is pursuant to an unlawful detainer action from a court of competent jurisdiction and the execution of a writ of possession issued pursuant thereto. A provision included in a rental agreement for a dwelling unit authorizing action prohibited by this section is unenforceable.

History

1994, c. 583; 2012, c. 705.