Defense attorneys representing a Somerville man facing eviction for non-payment of rent concluded their case Wednesday.
Gary Rogers, the defendant, spent over two hours testifying on his rights as a tenant as he understands them. He referenced an Estoppel certificate, used to certify terms, and his lease, and his lack of engagement with the city regarding safety concerns in his 22 Sargent Ave. apartment.
Rogers, who has refused to pay a 90 percent rent increase since his current landlord, Ryan Pinto, imposed it in the spring of 2024, said he did not sign an Estoppel certificate for his one-bedroom apartment on the third floor. He said that he never signed the document under either of his landlords because he did not agree to all of its conditions.
Rogers said, though, that the first line in the Estoppel states that he is still under the lease he signed upon moving into his unit in May 2017, when his rent was $1,150 per month. He testified that he stopped paying $1,250 in monthly rent – an increase the former landlord’s property manager set in Fall 2021 – once he saw the Estoppel in Dec. 2023.
“This line proves that any increase I was given by the property manager is invalid,” Rogers said, later adding that any rent increase is invalid, as long as his self-extending lease remains active.
Rogers testified that he did not have authorization from the current property manager or Pinto to reduce his rent.
Rogers testified that he did not see a transaction rent ledger until Nov. 2025. The ledger labels Rogers’ checks “use and occupancy,” though he wrote “rent” on all of them. During cross examination, when Pinto’s attorneys asked Rogers to read several checks he paid, including one dating back to Dec. 2023, he noted both rent and his self-extending lease in the memos.
Rogers also testified that there was nothing in the notices to quit he received that outlined rights of reservation or use and occupancy.
Used oven for heat
Rogers provided further testimony on safety concerns in his unit. He said he used his oven to heat his unit – he spoke about the unit’s poor heating system on Tuesday – but it was defective, lacking a vent pipe, and began releasing smoke into the room. Rogers also said he had avoided using the oven up until that point due to hardened oven cleaner residue left by the previous tenant, which he only discovered a few months into his tenancy. He testified that he did not report the oven to Somerville’s Board of Health initially because he learned to manage his situation and make it as comfortable as he could.
Rogers also said he didn’t bring up the oven and other issues with the former property manager because he thought she would dismiss his concerns.
“At that time, I was not knowledgeable about my rights, about [the inspectional services department]” Rogers said. “Only in the last few years have I become knowledgeable about all that.”
One thing that was reported was a ceramic toilet tank that cracked and poured water out onto his floor one night, affecting the unit below his and forcing firefighters to shut off water for the whole building. That incident happened in 2025, after Pinto became landlord. Somerville’s inspectional services department visited the unit and Pinto apologized for the situation, he said. The toilet was replaced.
When asked by Pinto’s attorneys why he did not bring the prior landlord to court instead of Pinto, Rogers said he tried to bring it up with the former property manager but there is now an executor of an estate and Pinto’s realtor could not provide a contact.
Pinto’s attorneys also asked him why he didn’t move out if issues in his unit persisted for nine years. Rogers said he stayed and wants to remain because moving is stressful and it could put him further away from his job at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research.
Closing arguments and jury deliberation will begin Thursday.
A stronger
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