All Forum Posts by: Douglas Snook

You talked about deposits but is there a WRITTEN lease? If so you are stuck until it is time to renew. Then you can increase, ban smoking and pets etc. At a minimum if you renew get a new rental application listing all residents (and banning any others, as well as giving permission for the dog that is there and only that one) You can be sure if you try to ban dogs it will suddenly become a "medically" necessary dog!

However, is your state under an eviction moratorium due to Covid 19 like MA? you may not be able to do anything as far as changing lease terms except wait it out

You want more then just an eviction attorney (especially since none but criminal evictions can go forward at this time) you want a Landlord attorney. They can explain the laws to you.

You did not mention how it is that you will soon be dealing with a lot of tenants. Are they going to be legacy tenants? Are you renovating units and putting them on the market now/

Feel free to call or email Thursday afternoon.

BE VERY CAREFUL what you do at this time. There are no evictions in MA for the time being (except for criminal activity)

Introduce yourself for sure. I do not believe you can increase their rent at this time. To increase rent in MA you end the current tenancy and then offer a new one at the higher rate.

These sound like tenants you may want to get rid of sooner rather then later. I would not offer them a 12 month lease at all.

Check the Attorney General sight for the rules and regulations. The fine for violating is $5000.

I don't think there is much you can do beyond introducing yourself and prepare for the day the emergency is over. Prepare your papers to end the tenancy and what the new one will be (no smoking, where to park etc etc) and be ready to go when it is over.

Has a Probate been filed in the court? That will tell you who the Personal Representative is and if there is a lawyer involved. If nothing yet do you have a family member contact?  In either case, reach out an ask them what they are planning to do about the contents of the apartment. If they need time to empty the place out they should pay the rent. I would not take the security deposit just yet.

Did anyone else live in the apartment? Be careful about letting anyone stay there!

If no one steps up, you may just have to proceed with a usual eviction for non-payment but at the moment everything is on hold in MA until August sometime.

@Joseph Cucuzza

MASS is one of the few states that do not use escrow companies to close. It is done by an attorney. Usually the attorney is a title agent for one of the national title insurance companies. I would be happy to speak with you further about it if you like.

I am an attorney in MA who is a title agent and also a real estate broker.

Since it is flooring I presume she had to move stuff around so the job could be done. Was she trying to work from home during the job? did she ever have to spend a night in a hotel?

How long has she been a tenant? Is she on time with her rent?

Overall I would say it sounds fairly reasonable if she has been there a while and is on time with payment and otherwise a decent tenant. 

But I would say go back and offer half and maybe spread it out over a few months (although if she has had hours cut or is laid off, maybe she could use the credit all in one month)

What would happen if you say NO? would you evict her if the rent is short? Can you even evict in your area with Corona?

See if she would cut it down and just suck it up if she is otherwise a good tenant.

Just my two cents.

The notice you gave him to quit should have mentioned that any payments made afterwards were for use and occupancy only and did not create a new tenancy. Did your notice say anything to that effect?

You may be stuck with him for now so why not take "use and occupancy" (rent) for now? If you do not have something in writing about utilities you are most likely stuck paying in full so mind as well take the "use and occupancy"

Also call the housing court ASAP and ask them if you can file the eviction as he is a hold over tenant. They may accept it but have not date set to hear these matters. 

If he has stayed beyond when you told him to leave he is a hold over tenant and you should be able to accept "use and occupancy" money every month. If he does not pay that then he it can become an eviction for non-payment

You need to check with the bank where the money is being held to see what needs to be done. The name of the landlord may have to be substituted or the accounts closed and then reopened under the new landlord name. 

The new owner may chose to use a different bank then where they are now.

If the accounts need to be closed and re-opened under the new landlord then I would think the tenants need to know this info (new account number), the same as when the account was first set up.

I think it would fall on the new owner to advise the tenants ASAP after the sale. They should also be sending a letter introducing themselves and providing contact numbers for maintenance and can include notification what is going on with their the security deposit

There are NO standard MASS forms as wholesaling is not allowed in MASS. Is it done, yes, I am sure it is. Search the previous post on here and you will see what I mean.