Eviction Process?

[joer1212]

Here's our situation:

One of our Section 8 tenants in Massachusetts is over one month delinquent on her portion of the rent ($237). The last time she paid was on April 1.

We contacted her about this a couple of times via text. She replied with excuses and told us "don't worry, it will be handled this afternoon". That was weeks ago, and we still haven't received the rent.

In addition, she has not signed her new, revised lease, which requires her to pay for her own electric bill (all of our tenants have gotten one and have signed it). We sent her 2 emails with this new lease attached, as well as a certified letter (30 days in advance), which was signed for, yet she claimed that she didn't receive anything, and is now ignoring us.

Also, she has violated the terms of her lease by allowing another individual to live with her (not included in her lease). This man recently died of a drug overdose in her apartment.

I contacted her Section 8 caseworker a couple of weeks ago, and she told me that she will inform the tenant that if she is evicted for nonpayment, she will lose her voucher. But this apparently didn't have any effect.

I also contacted a couple of lawyers in Massachusetts about this, but they have not gotten back to me yet. So, I'm posting here because this is a time-sensitive matter (we want to evict by Aug 1 and must give 30 days notice*).

Do we need a lawyer to evict this tenant, and if not, what is the exact procedure? This information seems very hard to come by on the internet.

Thanks


* This tenant is on a 30-day month-to-month lease.

[bacchi]

Evictions are very state specific. They're also usually very detailed and any misstep causes a time reset or, worse, fines against the landlord.

Tread carefully. I've done evictions myself but a lawyer might be helpful your first time.

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/overview-landlord-tenant-laws-massachusetts.html

[srad]

I'm not sure what your renter pool is like, if you get rid of this one will another one with different set of issues fill their place?  The short her part $237 wouldn't bother me, but all the rest you mentioned did...

I would hire an attorney and learn the ropes on how to handle an eviction for when/if your next one comes around.  As bacchi said, you don't want to do something wrong that will cost you.

[joer1212]

Evictions are very state specific. They're also usually very detailed and any misstep causes a time reset or, worse, fines against the landlord.

Tread carefully. I've done evictions myself but a lawyer might be helpful your first time.

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/overview-landlord-tenant-laws-massachusetts.html

Thanks.
Have you ever used a lawyer to evict a tenant?
I'm thinking this would be superfluous. I'm considering simply drawing up a Notice to Quit (which one?) and hire an official to hand it to my tenant. Then, I would email Section 8 and the county court a copy and take it from there.

[joer1212]

I'm not sure what your renter pool is like, if you get rid of this one will another one with different set of issues fill their place?  The short her part $237 wouldn't bother me, but all the rest you mentioned did...

I would hire an attorney and learn the ropes on how to handle an eviction for when/if your next one comes around.  As bacchi said, you don't want to do something wrong that will cost you.

We have a total of 10 units.
2 are currently vacant because they're being renovated, and 5 (including this tenant's unit) are Section 8 in some capacity. Eventually, we'd like to get rid of the Section 8 tenants, if they become a pain in the ass.

[Sibley]

This isn't an eviction. Not yet. What you want to do is tell them to move because the lease is up and you're not renewing, ie a notice to quit. It becomes an eviction if they refuse to leave.

That said, given you don't know this, I would recommend finding a lawyer to help. An hour of time to make sure you're doing things right upfront could avoid a lot of time and trouble later on.