All Forum Posts by: Robert P.

I just dealt with a similar situation. Tenant called board of health and they came back with some pretty ridiculous repairs needed. Each item should have a time limit. You must get things fixed by that time limit. (as someone mentioned above, you have the right to enter and fix it since you are being demanded to do so by the BOH)

Also, they can withhold, but have to be up to date on rent in MA prior to withholding. They must also put that money in a bank account at the time to prove they had the rent at that time. If not, then that's a fail on their part and they will not be able to use withholding as a defense in court.

Also, even though they are month to month, be careful when going to evict. If you evict within 6 months of receiving a BOH notice, that can be considered retaliation and can cause some major headaches and major money lost UNLESS you can clearly prove you are evicting due to a legit reason (i.e. non-payment, breaking lease terms, etc) and not because you got the notice. If they were current on rent at time of you receiving the BOH notice, this may be a tricky situation to get them out.

My experience just happened the past 2 months. Tenant called BOH, we fixed things within 2 days. They were already late on rent, but claimed they were withholding due to bad conditions. We gave them Notice to Quit for non-payment. They then called board of health to check for lead...found lead...child under 6 living there, too.

Went to court and ended up solving in mediation. Tenant wrote an 11 page answer to the summons and the mediator did not care about it. Simply only cared about money they owed and when they could leave.

I had a lawyer represent me and it turned out great. Just follow the law and you will be fine. One word of advice is to stay professional and bring all evidence with you when you go to court. We ended up "losing" $700 in a discount we gave tenant, but in the end, it was worth it to let that money slide so they would agree to move out. I would also highly recommend an atty unless you are experienced in evictions/negotiations. When we were in mediation (this was my first eviction) we started going back and forth about "he said, she said" things and my atty shut that down quickly with his wise thoughts and the right words to say. It's always good to get someone experienced in there with you. In the end, you want the person out. If it's going to cost you a little, so be it. Pay the money, learn your lesson and move on. it's all part of the business. The important part is learning from mistakes/situations and not allowing it to happen again (if that's even possible!)

Good luck!

**Not legal advice, just thoughts from what I learned from my experience**

I'm pretty sure that if a child under the age of 6 lives in the apartment you are required to have it tested prior to them moving in. If there are only adults than the general disclosure and the "I'm not aware" will be fine.

I would however take action yourself if she's already inquiring about it as if you leave it for too long and there ends up being lots of lead in there you could have a lawsuit down the line if the child develops any issues that can be related to lead exposure.

Good luck!

Old post but... 

What happens if financing contingency has passed, but you have documentation saying the seller will turn over the property with 1 of 3 units vacant, and they don't? Are you able to back out and get your EM back?

 Understand that completely. But who holds the burden of proof? For example, if tenant states that something wasn't fixed for 2 weeks, do I need to prove it was? Or does tenant need to prove it was not?

what should I be prepared to do to some crazy claims a tenant that I am evicting put in their answer to my summons and complaint? Do I need to defend myself, or are they required to bear proof of such claims? 

 Thanks for this. But this has nothing to do with the lead disclosure question I asked!

 Yes but it's general for purchasing the home. I don't have any tenant signed copies

I will be closing on a 3 family shortly. All tenants are at will. I am located in Massachusetts. I will have a welcome package to introduce myself including:

1. Welcome letter

2. At-Will agreement with rent amount, due date, where to send, etc

3. pet addendum, so they won't have any more pets, etc

4. property "rules" - how to request repair, what is not allowed, etc

5. Gift card to local pizza business

Question: Do I need to give and have them sign a lead disclosure as the new landlord? Technically they should have already received that when they moved in from the previous owner. Do I need to re-issue since it's a change of owner?

every lender has their own weird stipulations. Trust me I know. Switch lenders until you find one that goes by FHA, not their own "rules"

I thought you said the unit was vacant? Are you still trying to get someone out so you can move in? Or are you trying to remove another tenant on top of the one already removed prior to closing?