Receiving September rent after constable deliver's notice to quit

[Andrew Reis]

Hello - I want to make sure I am doing this correct. I have a tenant at will, no written lease in MA. They have a security deposit with me but no last month's rent.  I gave the tenant a notice of non-renewal in August. Today, a 30 day notice to quit was served by the constable, with a deadline of November 1st. The tenant dropped off a rent check for September in my mailbox. Can I accept September rent?

[Greg Scott]

If you were evicting, you would not want to accept partial payment.  That usually voids the eviction proceedings.

I'm not sure why you served a notice to quit.  At least in the jurisdictions I am familiar with, that is not required unless you have some sort of lease violation, including non-payment of rent.

That aside, since you are non-renewing with a tenancy through the end of October, a good resident will and should pay September and October rent.