Potential Liability for Assisting in a Landlord-Tenant Dispute

Q: Can an unpaid volunteer be held liable for helping resolve a dispute between others?

Generally, an unpaid volunteer faces limited liability unless they made specific promises relied on by another party or their involvement made the situation worse.

Q: Does acting as a go-between make someone an agent of a landlord?

Not automatically, but pay is not the test. Under Theos & Sons, Inc. v. Mack Trucks, Inc., 431 Mass. 736 (2000), agency is created by mutual consent, express or implied, that the go-between act on the landlord's behalf and for her benefit, subject to her control — an unpaid volunteer who does that is still an agent. Apparent authority likewise turns on the landlord's own words and conduct, not on the go-between holding himself out.

Q: How can someone helping with a rental dispute limit their own liability?

Generally, avoiding specific assurances or timelines and keeping one's role limited to relaying information can help reduce exposure.

Question

I am wondering if I am liable in a lawsuit? Assisted in a rental, the landlord and her property manager/agent did not have the unit in good condition, I stayed involved to send a tenant's messages to her as they are not getting along and helped connect the agent with a qualified maintenance company, they are taking longer thwn expected but she is also not very proactive, delays in improvements have been about 4 months, with the last month being with the new company, am I liable?

A. Jason Velez · Accepted Answer

Likely not — acting as an unpaid go-between without any contract generally does not create legal liability for the repair delays, but one gap in the facts still matters.

You answered that there was no formal agreement, and the compensation question was left unanswered — but pay is not what decides whether you were the landlord's agent. Under Theos & Sons, Inc. v. Mack Trucks, Inc., 431 Mass. 736 (2000), an agency relationship exists when there is mutual consent, express or implied, that you act on the landlord's behalf and for her benefit, subject to her control; a volunteer who does that is still an agent even though no one paid him. The companion question is what the tenant was told, and there too the test is not what you said about yourself — apparent authority is established by the principal's words and conduct, not the putative agent's. So the gap that matters is whether you were acting under her direction and for her benefit, and whether she held you out to the tenant as speaking for her; either one could change this analysis considerably. Assuming neither, courts generally look at what's sometimes called a gratuitous undertaking — a volunteer who steps in without pay can still face liability if they made specific promises the tenant relied on, or if their involvement actually made the situation worse. Simply relaying messages and connecting the property manager with a maintenance company, without more, does not typically create that kind of exposure, though the outcome is fact-dependent rather than automatic.

What you can do:

1. Confirm for yourself whether you were acting under the landlord's or property manager's direction and for her benefit, and whether she said or did anything that led the tenant to treat you as speaking for her — those answers change the analysis, not whether you were paid.

2. Going forward, avoid giving the tenant direct assurances or specific timelines about when repairs will be completed.

3. Keep your role limited to passing along information rather than making commitments on the landlord's behalf.

4. Have a local Massachusetts attorney review your specific involvement to confirm where you stand.

Potential Liability for Assisting in a Landlord-Tenant Dispute

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