Landlord Question and Answer Forum

I had a tenant that was month to month. She was late with her rent consistently. She got the apartment infested with fleas and would not take steps to help us erradicate them like treating her dog or washing her laundry. In Novemeber she was late with the rent again. So I told her it was not working out. I gave her the 30 day notice to quit since it was already NOv. 7 I said she could leave by jan 1st but she woul dbe responsible for Decembers rent. She said she would be out by Dec 1. She did not even pay me november. December 1st came and she said she would be out in 2 days. I told her that she would be responsible for the rent and that we had already talked about it and she already signed a paper. She said she would only pay $100. I said fine just have your things out by 10pm oin that day that she said. That day comes and she did not have any money for november or december and she did not have all her things out. We told her that she would have to come back by appointmnet. She gave us the keys and sauid she would be back in 5 days. She never came back. She has 3 tables and 2 loads of laundry a laptop and a lot of stuff that appears to be trash. SHe will not answer any of our phone calls. The flea situation is getting worse and we can not show the apartment. We went to get advice from the housing court they said to send her a letter via certified mail saying she has 30 days to get her things out. I don;t know from when though....Is that thirty days from the day she gave us the keys? OR is the thiry day letter we gave her previously suffcient? This is in MA Any advice would be greatly appreciated....

Also, I tried to access the link I found on this website for a Notice to Reclaim Personal Property but it did not work.....

Posted by Rebecca L, MA on Tuesday, December 13, 2011