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.