Lease vs Tenant at Will

[Robert Kohalmi]

Before I jump into becoming a landlord I would like to know a little more about the pros and cons of having tenants sign a lease versus doing a tenant at will. The reason I ask is that I keep hearing how Landlords basically have little to no rights here in Mass. when trying to deal with a problematic tenant, especially if they have written lease. I have been told that having tenants at will gives you much more control. Your feedback is much appreciated

[Chris K.]

I typically like to start all of my new tenants off on a month to month lease  because I do feel like I have a little more control. Like Michelle said, even on a year lease, if the tenants really want to move they will and it's not much you can do. But on that year lease you are stuck with them for that year. There may be times where you don't want that tenant staying for a year. 

The reason I started doing this is because I had a tenant who purposely started paying as late as possible (the night before the sheriff showed up to evict). Because I was in a 12 month lease there was little I could do and I was forced to go thru the process every single month. Luckily in my area after the 5th  "late payment" judgement I can evict them even if they do pay and the tenant didn't know that. Worse would be if a professional tenant knew that rule and always paid right before I got the "late payment" judgement and they could technically pay rent 3 weeks late every month for the full lease and there would be absolutely NOTHING i could do. 

If they're on month to month I can let them know I'm terminating their lease, or that I'm increasing their rent as soon as I see that they're trying to "work the system". After 6mo-12mo if they're a good tenant I'll lock them into a lease.