Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Massachusetts

Re: section 8 lease termination

You should start by getting the names of all persons on the lease, and all occupants. You should then plan on advising the Section 8 office of the problem. You should get a new tenant, frankly, as this is going to be an ongoing problem. You should also advise those on the lease that they must heed the limits right away, or you will terminate their lease. Do both in writing.

In case you haven't guessed, this is going to cause conflict, no matter what you do. You don't want to live with this conflict, so I would advise just serving a notice on the tenants that you are terminating the lease for noncompliance.

You also have the right to advise in writing that the non-lessors are trespassers, and that they are to leave the premises forthwith. You had best plan to have the police on notice of this.

If you hadn't as yet guessed, this could become no fun, because you are dealing with a situation that has been allowed to go on, and I predict tat the adults involved consider themselves entitled.

Re: section 8 lease termination

I agree with attorney Lee that you may be in for a bumpy ride.

On the one hand, Section 8 tenants provide a guaranteed stream of income - usually at or above fair market value. On the other hand, there are sometimes personal and familial issues that can lead to difficulties with other tenants and neighbors.

The process for terminating a Section 8 tenant is very specific, and certain requirements of the federal program must be met or the eviction will fail. These case needed to be handled with care in order to minimize a landlord's liability.

Please feel free to contact this office should you require further assistance. I am located in Quincy.