Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Massachusetts

Re: shut off hot water

No, it is not legal to shut off the hot water EVEN AFTER

the 'extra month' he gave you expires. What can you do?

You can file charges immediately with the police, or you can

have the inspector in to see and s/he will issue him "24 hour"

orders (to turn on the hot water again) failure of which

will cause the inspector to bring criminal charges against him.

Then he'll be in some pretty hot water himself. And you, meanwhile,

would end up living for free in the place for a while to come, most

likely.

His asking you about that is probably meant to be

a threat but it might just be an empty threat, meant to scare you.

Such a threat is probably not itself a violation of the

law.

There is a very specific procedure he needs to follow to evict you

legally. It starts with a proper "notice to quit" (since he let you

stay another month willingly after your lease expired ... did you pay

rent for that (this?) month? It's a bit of a lengthy process probably

designed in part to give you a better shot at finding

a new place! But try not to rely upon it!

To preserve your rights, it's best if you pay

the rent (for that extra month) even if you're

having trouble scraping it together -- this is

one case where it might be best NOT to accept

charity (from the landlord)! But talk it over

with your own lawyer, first. I'm sure the money

isn't something you want to throw away, either.

You have NUMEROUS high quality rights as a tenant.

See a lawyer as soon as possible for more

specific advice and protection.

You may contact me directly if you like. Be sure to

tell me again who you are (mention the threat to

cut off the hot water) if you do.