Help with removing a problem tenant

[Brenna Sullivan]

Hi everyone, and thank you in advance for your help. I am also sorry for the long post. 

I am actually asking this on behalf of my MIL, but I am very familiar with the situation and... help please!

My MIL rented her home in Autauga County, Alabama last September to a newly married couple. She lives in AZ. She is a bit naive and this was her first foray into renting, and she did not do any background checks, other than calling the numbers the couple gave her as references. They did sign an application stating no felonies, etc., but my MIL did not know how to perform a background check. My husband and I thought she had, but turns out she had not. The tenants signed a one year lease, Oct 1 2015- Sep 30, 2016. 

 There have been problems from the get-go. There have been many MANY issues, attempted cons and scams, etc., but the biggest problem is that shortly after they moved in my husband and I discovered that the male is a registered sex offender, meaning that he lied on his signed application. He does not know that we know, as my MIL did not want to go through the hassle of evicting and having them possibly destroy the house as long as rent was still being paid. She felt it would be better to have an ace in hand if she ever needed to evict them than to acknowledge that she knows and allow them to stay anyway. 

 Yesterday he contacted my MIL to say that he and his wife are now getting divorced. He tried to sweet talk her into lowering his rent, as he lost half of his income, but thankfully she is not willing to do so. She wants to end the lease as peacefully as possible, believing this man to be the type to vindictively steal appliances or otherwise trash the home. 

 Allowing this man to stay is not an option. He cannot pay the rent on his own and has admitted as much, and is a manipulative con man. We thought about having her say that he would need to qualify on his own, but that would mean actually running background checks, which of course would bring up his offender status, which means having to actually evict. 

Our current plan is to have her give him a polite 30 day notice, and say something like "Per the lease you will forfeit your deposit and owe an additional month's rent in order to end your lease early, however I am aware of your situation and am willing to allow a lease break without the additional month's rent". He won't pay the extra month anyway, and hopefully that will keep him "nice". But since he is an offender I don't know where he'll go, and I'm worried that an actual eviction will be required anyway, which would then allow him to stay there for 2 months- the first 30 day notice and the 30 day eviction period. 

  Does anyone have any insight into this? Any ideas on what to do? Is a 30 day notice a good idea, or should she go straight to eviction? Does she have to wait until the beginning of March when the rent isn't paid? Both this man and his wife are on the lease, but the wife has moved out and is not returning messages left by my MIL. 

Thank you SO MUCH for your help.