Ask An Attorney: Lease Question

It’S THE LAW by attorney Mark Burrell

Q. The lease I have with my tenant has expired but my tenant won’t move out. Do I have to give my tenant a notice to quit before beginning the eviction

A. No. If you have a written lease with your tenant for a fixed period of time, usually one year, and the tenant refuses to vacate the premises after the term of the lease expires, you can have the tenant served with a summary process summons and complaint without having first given the tenant a notice to quit.
If the tenant remains after the lease expires, the tenant is called a “tenant-at-sufferance”. But do not accept rent from the tenant after the lease expires. If you do, you will have converted the tenant-at-sufferance into a “tenant-at- will”, and a notice to quit must be given to a tenant-at-will before that tenant can be served with a summary process complaint. And remember, if you decide to accept rent from a tenant after you have begun the eviction process, endorse the rent check with the words “accepted for use and occupancy only” and give the tenant a receipt for the rent with those words included.This will preserve your right to move forward with the eviction.