Ending a Tenant at Will Tenancy

[Brooke Hater]

Hello! I have a 78 year old tenant that I inherited when I bought the 2 family building she lives in. She has lived in the apartment for 25 years, and is paying hundreds less in rent than what I should be getting for the property, but is on a fixed income and is not able to go higher. The apartment has also not been touched in 25 years and needs a complete overhaul. She is not on a lease, rather she is a tenant at will and consider her month to month. She always pays rent on time. I am needing to ask her to leave the property so that I can renovate and move in myself while I do so, then list the apartment for the rent I am wanting to get. I have struggled with this decision and feel bad about it, but ultimately it needs to happen. I called her up to set up a time to meet to discuss this with her, and she basically knew what I was hinting at and said things like “you can’t do this to me” “you can’t kick an old lady out like this it’s not right” “you have no right” etc. 

My plan is to meet with her in person and have her sign a notice to terminate the lease. I am giving her plenty of notice (till May 31st 2020). But my guess is that she is not going to go peacefully and seems like she would sue and say that I am discriminating against the elderly (which is NOT the reason I need her to move out). Is there anything legally I am missing here? Does she have rights that I am not thinking of? Thank you!