Need Help with 30-Day notice c

Eddie Fleckenstein · 2021-08-19T19:24:27-07:00

Hi Everyone! My partner and I remember recently purchased our first property which is a 3 family in Chelsea Massachusetts (very tenant friendly state). My partner and I will be landlord occupying. The building has 1 unit vacant and 2 occupied. Both of the current tenant's leases end on 8/31. We decided to renew the lease for the tenants in unit 1 and are asking the tenant in unit 2 to leave because she did not meet our application requirements. In Massachusetts we are required to provide 30-day notice by the end of August if we want to tenant to leave by September 30th. The tenant does not speak English only Spanish although her sister speaks English and has translated for her so far. My partner and I are also concerned that she might not leave after the 30-Day notice and its possible we could have to file for eviction. I'm wondering: 1. Are their requirements for what needs to be in a 30-day notice form? 2. The current tenant is the only one on the lease but has 2 other "roommates" living there (that we know of) who are not on the lease (Its a 4 bedroom apartment). Any advice on how to word the 30-Day notice to ensure from a legal perspective that means all people currently living in the unit? 2. Are there templates or resources on how to make a Massachusetts 30-day notice form that meet any or all legal requirements for the form? 3. Are there any 30-day notice templates in Spanish? 4. If the answer for point 3 is no, should I hire a translation service to professionally translate the 30-day notice to ensure the translation is accurate and will be seen as valid in court (if it comes to that)? 5. I'm thinking of mailing the 30-day noticed from the post office direct recorded mail so I have a record that the notice was sent to my tenant. I would mail both an English and Spanish copy of the form. Is that sufficient or are the further steps that I should take to prove notice was sent to the tenant? Appreciate any advice or guidance, don't want to get this wrong!

Douglas Snook

Attorney · Attleboro, MA · Member since 2015 · 412 posts · 165 votes

5y

A couple of points if you have not sent it out already.

If they are there under a lease and the lease expires at the end of August and you are not renewing it, depending on what the lease says it may automatically renew OR it may convert to a month to month. Read your lease!

You wanted to give her notice that the lease is not being renewed back in at least July. That would make her a hold over tenant on Sept 1. You could proceed right away with the eviction rather then have to give her a 30 day notice.

So I will assume she is now going to be month to month as of September 1 and that the lease does not renew for another year.

First have the notice served by a Constable or sheriff NOT by mail! I always use a constable or sheriff. Is it required no but it makes it better if she questions whether or not she got the notice. The Constable will post it on the door if no one answers and mail a copy.

Second, if you know there are other people and you know their names send EACH one a separate notice addressed to them as well. You will name each of them on the eviction case with the court if needed. You don't want her to leave and these others not to or if you have to move her out have them rush into court and say they are not named and therefor they can stay.

If you accept any money be sure you put on the receipt that it is for use and occupancy ONLY and not renewing the lease. This language should also be in the notice that you give her.

Feel free to contact me with any other questions

1 Reply

Eddie Fleckenstein
OP
New to Real Estate · Boston, MA · Member since 2020 · 17 posts · 5 votes
5y
Originally posted by @Douglas Snook:
A couple of points if you have not sent it out already.
If they are there under a lease and the lease expires at the end of August and you are not renewing it, depending on what the lease says it may automatically renew OR it may convert to a month to month. Read your lease!
You wanted to give her notice that the lease is not being renewed back in at least July. That would make her a hold over tenant on Sept 1. You could proceed right away with the eviction rather then have to give her a 30 day notice.
So I will assume she is now going to be month to month as of September 1 and that the lease does not renew for another year.
First have the notice served by a Constable or sheriff NOT by mail! I always use a constable or sheriff. Is it required no but it makes it better if she questions whether or not she got the notice. The Constable will post it on the door if no one answers and mail a copy.
Second, if you know there are other people and you know their names send EACH one a separate notice addressed to them as well. You will name each of them on the eviction case with the court if needed. You don't want her to leave and these others not to or if you have to move her out have them rush into court and say they are not named and therefor they can stay.
If you accept any money be sure you put on the receipt that it is for use and occupancy ONLY and not renewing the lease. This language should also be in the notice that you give her.
Feel free to contact me with any other questions

Thanks for this reply @Douglas Snook!

- We purchased the property at the end of the July and it is our first property which is why we could not let her know we weren't renewing sooner (but good to know for the future). The previous owner told us she informed the existing tenants that the new owners (myself and my partner) could be asking for higher rents and we could ask them to leave. The previous owner was also fluent in Spanish so I know she communicated directly with the tenant in question. We didn't want to be serving a 30-day notice 28 days into our land lording careers...But, here we are.
- Great point about the lease auto renewing. We checked the previous lease and it doesn't renew.
- We decided to serve the notice through AABCO Constables who says on their website they are "Eviction Experts". We have hired them to send the 30-day notice and hopeful it will get to my tenant today or tomorrow. We also made sure they provide the required information needed to serve the 30 day notice in Spanish. They told us they will record and provide a record for us of all the steps taken to serve her the 30-day notice. They told me they are officers of the court so I feel confident delivering the notice will hold up in court in our favor if it comes to that.
- I don't know the names of the other roommates (part of the problem). We addressed the 30-day notice to her "and any/all other occupants". Hopefully that will be enough if it comes to eviction, but I'm not sure. The good news is that the original lease specifies that no one over 18 is allowed to live there without being named on the lease. Again, if it goes to court hopefully that will work in our favor.
- She only pays the rent in cash. When I collected August rent I provided her a receipt that we have a record of. For September's rent when I issue another receipt are you saying I should specify on the receipt that the money collected is "For use and occupancy only"?

Also we are living in the building and about to move in. Any tips on how to approach communication with her through this process? She only speaks Spanish, her sister has translated so far and they push for in-person meetings every chance they get. I think they will try to do this again, but it seems like this is the time for recorded correspondence only.

Thanks again for your feedback. I don't feel 100% great about the steps we've taken so far, but I also don't think we have made any drastic mistakes either.
0 Reply

Douglas Snook

Attorney · Attleboro, MA · Member since 2015 · 412 posts · 165 votes

5y

@Eddie Fleckenstein Thanks for the additional info. You could be in for a bit of a fight if she doesn't leave on her own but that's just how it always is.

Not knowing the additional names could be an issue down the road but what can you do.

When you purchased the place did you have the seller/landlord give you letters of indemnification signed by landlord and tenant? Did he transfer any security deposits and last months rent (or sign off that there are none) That all could come into play if it gets to court.

Did you send letters to the tenants stating you are now the owner and rent should be paid to you etc? How do you know she didn't meet the application requirements? Did you give her an application to complete and then declined it? If you gave her an application you should have asked for everyone living in the apartment etc.

Perhaps what you should have done is given BOTH tenants notice of new ownership, advised their leases are expiring 8/31 and in order to possibly renew they would have to complete a new application and meet the new criteria (which you have written down and applied equally to both tenants) THEN advise her she didn't meet the criteria and therefore lease not being renewed. But it is a little too late for that so you will have to run with what you have.

So once she gets the notice she will be calling you. Be very careful what you say, and make your own notes afterwards. Just keep it simple - the tenancy is not being renewed, please move out by the end of September. If you have already told her she doesn't meet your criteria, don't get into it with her about how or why etc! She may counter that she needs more time to find a place, save up the money etc. DON"T agree to more time up front. If she doesn't move, file the court action. If in court she says she needs more time, then it can be written up as an agreement in court. That way if she doesn't move you can get the Execution rather then starting the court process at that time.

One more thought, since this is Chelsea, there are various programs in place that will help tenants with various costs, including moving costs (and first, last security at a new place) You may get a call from Legal Aid as well that they are helping her.

1 Reply

Eddie Fleckenstein

OP

New to Real Estate · Boston, MA · Member since 2020 · 17 posts · 5 votes

5y

@Douglas Snook

No the previous landlord did not provide letters of indemnification. Funds for only security deposits were deducted from my closing cost but I was not provided checks with the direct amount for the security deposits.

I put up letters in the common area saying I am now the landlord in both english and Spanish and provided my contact information and instructions for sending rent/contacting me.

Tenant in question and her two roommates sent me rental applications but all three were incomplete and the names on the two roommates were so illegible that I could not put them on the 30-day notice and not be confident I got the names right. She did not provide income on the application or provide an employee. Same with her roommates. I think they all work under the table and only listed "janitor" for employment but didn't list an employer. Tenant in question also said in person (sister translated) that she does not have a bank account and that she wants to be the only person on the lease and not list her roommates. We also asked for her email and her sister said she could not find or remember what her email address was even though the tenant in question has a smart phone. Tenant in question did not list a social security number and it's possible she doesn't have one. She has not provided any documented information that allows us to confirm she can pay rent or anyway to track her down if she left one day. The previous owner spoke highly of her and told us us she always paid rent over 6 years which is why we considered keeping her at first. I think she makes income by renting the other rooms out to the "roommates". Her sister told us that over the years the tenant in question has had to kick out certain roommates and replace them with others.

We have not sent a notice saying her application was declined. My partner and I instead decided not renew the lease and send 30-day notice with the lease ending at the end this month.

Thank you for the tips on the communication. I think I will write out things that might be said to me and write out how to respond to various questions and commits and practice them so I don't say more than I should.

I agree that her putting up a fight is a very real possibility. The way her and her sister have engaged with us during this process makes us think they have some knowledge of the system and rules and have experience handling landlords.

0 Reply

Eddie Fleckenstein

OP

New to Real Estate · Boston, MA · Member since 2020 · 17 posts · 5 votes

5y

Update. 30-day notice was served, I spoke to the tenant and the call went as well as could be expected. Not out of the woods yet, but things are looking good. Thanks again for the advice and input @Douglas Snook!

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Need Help with 30-Day notice c

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