Landlord Question and Answer Forum

We have a property in MA. We just received a letter from a lawyer stating that we are being sued by a cop who was "injured" when he went to arrest the sublease tenant at our property. We are accused of allowing ongoing and dangerous conditions to exist. After some inquiries I have found out that apparently there have been quite a few domestic violence police calls to the property. We had no idea. No complaints from anyone, no notification from police and whenever I have gone to collect the rent the tenants have been nice and mostly pay on time and keep the apartment in a reasonable state. Back story is - we leased to a girl and her partner when she was pregnant in large part because her Father lives next door - we even cut the rent because we decided it was the right thing to do and the tenant checks were fine. They split up (and he ended up in jail) and she wanted to stay so we allowed her to sublet to a roommate so she could afford to stay. She has had a few different roommates and now has the new boyfriend (the one who injured the cop - she sure can pick em) and a roommate. Two questions - 1. How can we be held responsible for something we had no knowledge of? It's not like we never go over there - I collect the rent each month and as I said have not had any issues. 2. Should we evict the girl or just try to ban the boyfriend - he is her subtenant. I guess no good deed goes unpunished. We have sent the letter to our insurance company and we are contacting a lawyer. Any advice appreciated - what are our chances of winning? Thanks