Need fast advice on eviction situation

Thealthaslanded

Short story:

My girlfriend is renting a basement room from her mother. Her mother is tossing my GF out of the house for completely insane reasons that I'm not going to get into. My GF has been paying rent for the past 4 or 5 months to her mother. Her mother is trying to toss her out tonight. There is no Lease agreement but under Massachusetts law...

A Tenant at Will is one who occupies a rented apartment without a lease, but pays rent periodically (typically monthly). The agreement for the Tenancy at Will may be either written or verbal. Either the landlord or you may terminate this arrangement at any time by giving written notice of 30 days or one full rental period in advance, whichever is longer. No reason is required to terminate a Tenancy at Will. If your landlord wants to raise your rent, s/he must send you a proper legal notice terminating your tenancy, and then make you an offer to remain in the apartment for the increased rent.

So that says her mother must give her 30 days notice no matter what.

There is also

A landlord cannot lock you out or throw you out of your apartment without a judge’s order. If you are being evicted, Massachusetts law provides you with some protections. You may wish to consult with an attorney.

http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=ocaterminal&L=4&L0=Home&L1=Consumer&L2=Housing+Information&L3=Tenant+%26+Landlord&sid=Eoca&b=terminalcontent&f=tenants_rights_and_responsibilities&csid=Eoca

Now, yeah, that says consult with an attorney. I am attempting to reach my uncle who is a real estate lawyer for help but so far I haven't been able to get a hold of him. So I'm turning to H/A for some help. How exactly should she deal with this tonight? Her mother is the kind of crazy person that would ignore the law, and lock the door on her own daughter. She's already not letting her use the shower, kitchen or even the driveway. So what advice, if any, do you guys have to offer? I could really use it.

Forbe!

Does your girlfriend have another place to stay? Honestly, I would just get my things and try to find a place to stay temporarily.


I would imagine that if she locks her out of the apartment, you could get the police involved.

thisisntwally

I'd suggest encouraging a reasonable conversation between adults. if thats out of the question...

Can your GF stay with you for a day or two while people cool off? Were this not a family thing, I'd say call the police.

Seems like a toxic situation, where your GF's first priority should really be getting OUT for good, rather than trying to make any principled stand.

Do what you've gotta to help her get out.

Thealthaslanded

The reasonable conversation part is out. Her mother is a nut job.

And yeah, we're trying to find her a permanent place to live. But we need to keep her in a home while she's looking. She looked at a place today. Unfortunately, I live too far away from her job to make my place a place to stay.

thisisntwally

Thealthaslanded wrote: »

The reasonable conversation part is out. Her mother is a nut job.

And yeah, we're trying to find her a permanent place to live. But we need to keep her in a home while she's looking. She looked at a place today. Unfortunately, I live too far away from her job to make my place a place to stay.

blech. renters rights sound strong enough. I'd hate to say get the police involved... but it might be the easiest/cheapest solution... frankly, even just the threat of calling them might be enough to encourage a more negotiable attitude.

Is there any family her mom might listen to? An older brother or uncle?

LaPuzza

Laws aren't written in the seocnd person. Read the actual law if you want to understand legal rights.

Apart from that, my advice would be that she should get out. The alternatives are what exactly? Wait for the doors to get locked and call the cops? Sue for an injunciton? File a fair houseing act complaint? the alternative legal feud options, complete with tazers, subpoenas and legal fees, make moving on the best option.

Thealthaslanded

thisisntwally wrote: »

Thealthaslanded wrote: »

The reasonable conversation part is out. Her mother is a nut job.

And yeah, we're trying to find her a permanent place to live. But we need to keep her in a home while she's looking. She looked at a place today. Unfortunately, I live too far away from her job to make my place a place to stay.

blech. renters rights sound strong enough. I'd hate to say get the police involved... but it might be the easiest/cheapest solution... frankly, even just the threat of calling them might be enough to encourage a more negotiable attitude.

Is there any family her mom might listen to? An older brother or uncle?

The threat of calling them means nothing to her mom. I'm telling you, the woman is a complete wackjob. She told my GF that the moment she steps out the door, the door would be locked behind her.

I was able to get ahold of my Uncle in the last few minutes. He told me the two main issues is that often the police don't want to get involved in family disputes like this and the other is that since she was never given a house key, which could disqualify as a tenant.

And seriously, if another person suggests "moving", I'm going to slap a nun. Read the thread before you comment.

bowen

While she does really have a case for tenancy it'll probably more trouble than it's worth. A few days of a 1 hour commute won't be the end of the world even. How old is your g/f?

Thealthaslanded

She's 23. So she's a legal adult who recently moved back home from another state due to that living arrangement with her now ex-boyfriend not working out.

bowen

Call the non emergency line for the cops. Let them know she's been renting a room for a few months and is now being kicked out by her mother and being barred from using utilities she paid for. Best case the police scare her. Worst case the police arrest her and she spends a night in jail and comes to her senses.

Question is, is the woman dangerous?

Thealthaslanded

bowen wrote: »

Call the non emergency line for the cops. Let them know she's been renting a room for a few months and is now being kicked out by her mother and being barred from using utilities she paid for. Best case the police scare her. Worst case the police arrest her and she spends a night in jail and comes to her senses.

Question is, is the woman dangerous?

She's dangerous in the sense that being somewhat disabled she knows how to play that card to land my GF in jail for the night. A similar situation happened a few months ago with her older brother. The mother was hitting him, he stopped her and she put him in jail for the night for battery. And he still gets to live at home.

Deebaser

She should move. Getting the law involved will only further strain whatever relationship they have and probably won't be all that productive anyway.

bowen

I'm just asking if she's dangerous enough to stab her, shoot her, poison her or something. There is no justification for your girlfriend going to jail unless she's a crackhead and that's why she's being kicked out. Though landlords still have to give notice even for that.

I'm sure there's a case, but honestly call the cops and explain the situation to them, they'll be able to help you out better. They're not always the assholes that they're made out to be, sometimes they can tell you the next step after they give you a hand. Also she may want to get into contact with a lawyer about this, but I honestly think the cops will be enough of a deterrent if the mother isn't going to burn the house down out of spite or something.

Thealthaslanded

Deebaser wrote: »

She should move. Getting the law involved will only further strain whatever relationship they have and probably won't be all that productive anyway.

bowen

Deebaser wrote: »

She should move. Getting the law involved will only further strain whatever relationship they have and probably won't be all that productive anyway.

Yeah that's what I'm thinking too, but he asked for what his options are other than that, so, that's about the skinny of what he can do.

Thealthaslanded

My girlfriend talked to the clerk at the local court and pretty much got the same info I got in the OP. She told her mother that's the law, 30 days notice, and her mother doesn't care. She's going to lock her out and that's that.

The other fun fact is that she's not letting my GF take her dresser or her bed. So....yay.

Dropping Loads

So you need a temporary solution, and moving is off the table. Is staying in a motel for a few weeks viable in your area? Weekly rates shouldn't hurt her pocketbook that bad, especially since she's going to stop paying mom anything. Does she have a friend's couch she could crash at, perhaps? Start thinking of non-traditional resources.

I'm trying to nail down the difference between "don't suggest she move" and "she honest to god must stay in her mother's house for 30 more days and no other options are feasible."

Forbe!

Call the non emergency police number when her mom tries to kick her out.

Honestly it seems like either way, even if her mom is forced to keep her as a tenant for the next 30 days, she will try to make it living hell for your girlfriend. I would stay there at most for a couple days until she can secure temporary housing at a friends, or if she finds an apartment.

Thealthaslanded

The "don't suggest she move" part stems from the fact that we're trying to find her a place. She filled out an application for a place today.

But her mother is tossing her out tonight. I'm trying to find a temporary solution until we can get her her own place. She's tried all her friends for a couch to crash and got a resounding no. She doesn't have the money for a motel.

bowen

Thealthaslanded wrote: »

My girlfriend talked to the clerk at the local court and pretty much got the same info I got in the OP. She told her mother that's the law, 30 days notice, and her mother doesn't care. She's going to lock her out and that's that.

The other fun fact is that she's not letting my GF take her dresser or her bed. So....yay.

The fun thing about not having a rental agreement or lease that says what furnished or unfurnished is is that whatever is in that room she's renting is hers.

What is her mother going to do when your girlfriend calls the cops and gets people to get all the furniture/items out of the house that belong to her? Honestly? The cops will cuff her and put her in the backseat of the car while they get everything out of the house (I've seen this done with a neighbor) to ensure crazy pyshcobitch doesn't break or hurt people and things.

Creidhes

Many extended stay hotels have pretty cheap rates by the week. This could give her a lease-free temporary place tonight and while she searches for a new place. If this is a domestic abuse situation (or imminent domestic abuse situation), MA has a fairly substantial collection of women's shelters.

Edit: Missed the part about lacking funds for a motel.

Thealthaslanded

bowen wrote: »

Thealthaslanded wrote: »

My girlfriend talked to the clerk at the local court and pretty much got the same info I got in the OP. She told her mother that's the law, 30 days notice, and her mother doesn't care. She's going to lock her out and that's that.

The other fun fact is that she's not letting my GF take her dresser or her bed. So....yay.

The fun thing about not having a rental agreement or lease that says what furnished or unfurnished is is that whatever is in that room she's renting is hers.

What is her mother going to do when your girlfriend calls the cops and gets people to get all the furniture/items out of the house that belong to her? Honestly? The cops will cuff her and put her in the backseat of the car while they get everything out of the house (I've seen this done with a neighbor) to ensure crazy pyshcobitch doesn't break or hurt people and things.

She told me she spoke to the police and they won't get involved because it's a domestic issue.

bowen

Thealthaslanded wrote: »

bowen wrote: »

Thealthaslanded wrote: »

My girlfriend talked to the clerk at the local court and pretty much got the same info I got in the OP. She told her mother that's the law, 30 days notice, and her mother doesn't care. She's going to lock her out and that's that.

The other fun fact is that she's not letting my GF take her dresser or her bed. So....yay.

The fun thing about not having a rental agreement or lease that says what furnished or unfurnished is is that whatever is in that room she's renting is hers.

What is her mother going to do when your girlfriend calls the cops and gets people to get all the furniture/items out of the house that belong to her? Honestly? The cops will cuff her and put her in the backseat of the car while they get everything out of the house (I've seen this done with a neighbor) to ensure crazy pyshcobitch doesn't break or hurt people and things.

She told me she spoke to the police and they won't get involved because it's a domestic issue.

I call bullshit, did you tell them you're paying rent?

Thealthaslanded

So I guess I'm on the way down to her house to help her move stuff out.

This is fucking retarded.

Darkewolfe

You've gotten all possible advice here, unfortunately. "Move out" is not an option. "Call the police" is an option you've exercised. "Talk about it" is not an option. There isn't really anything else that you can do. Because the police won't become involved in a domestic dispute like this, the only thing she can do is never leave the room again till she finds a new place, or take her things and her self and put them SOMEWHERE. After you've resolved that, even temporarily, you can prepare to take the mother to small claims court to get a month's rent back for violating renter's rights.

deadonthestreet

Get in contact with your local legal services people. What part of the state are you in?

Druhim

Yeah, there's not really much you can do here to change the fact that she's getting locked out tonight. I don't know what you're looking for here. Yes, her mother is nuts. Yes, it's bullshit that she's kicking her out without notice. But the simple fact is that any legal action is going to take time, and isn't going to keep her from getting locked out tonight. You've already found out for yourself that the police consider it a domestic issue and are staying out of it. So she can pursue a legal remedy against her mother, but again that will be well after she's already been locked out. By then she'll presumably have found someplace else to live and maybe she'll win some money. Maybe.

None of that is going to change that she has a hostile mother who doesn't care what the law may be regarding her booting her rent paying daughter out without due notice.

darkmayo

Well the real issue is where is your GF going to live and what about her shit.

Since "mom" is crazy and not willing to listen to any reason have her crash at your place and have her take what she needs for the time being. Then work with legal types and police types to make sure she can get the rest of her stuff out (take pictures of anything of value to make sure they are documented in case "mom" decides to get smashy or something)

lastly.. and this may sound harsh , take a close look at your relationship and see if it is worth the pain.

bowen

I guess the largest problem is that you probably told the police "my mother is kicking me out" rather than "my landlord is kicking me out tonight without due notice"

Thanatos

In California at least, if you're renting a room from someone, it's treated entirely differently than if you're renting an apartment or house from somebody.

In a lot of ways, you aren't considered a tenant, even if you pay rent; you're considered a "boarder," and your rights with regards to notice and such are considerably less. I don't know if this is the case in Massachusetts or not, but to all the people saying "she gets thirty days," you may be wrong.

I would still call the cops and make them let her get her stuff.

Dropping Loads

It also seems that a sticking point is that she needs to remain close to work. Does she have camping gear and a gym membership? I work in academia, and it wouldn't be the first time I saw someone sleep under their desk for a few nights and shower at the gym (work cultures are of course very different everywhere). I know it's an option you never want to consider, but there should be shelters in the area as well if she needs a few nights. You could also try re-calling all the people that refused a couch and see if they could throw in a few bucks towards a week in a motel.

amateurhour

How far away do you live that it's such a problem for her to stay there? I mean I get what you're saying, but it's that or try to call the police and force her mom to let her live there, which isn't happening from the sound of things. She can make do for a couple of weeks at your place if need be, if you're cool with that... Or she can get a credit card or micro loan and get a cheap hotel room.

Thealthaslanded

Okay I'm back.

So she's here at my house now. With her stuff and her cat. Since her mother wouldn't let her take her dresser or bed, we basically only had to get her clothes, blankets, TV, xbox and cat. So not much in the way of belongings. Most of it is clothes that don't fit her so she's going to take time to get rid of the old stuff with her time here.

The job issue is that I live 40 miles from her mother's house. Her work is about a mile down the road from her mother's house. So she's going to be driving about 39 miles each way until we can find her a place back closer to there. Sleeping at the job is soooo not possible since it's a coffee shop. I don't think that would work at all. She is going to talk to her store manager about the situation just so he's informed in case anything comes up where she can't make it in.

And she's going to talk to my roommate, who is the actual owner of this house, about paying utilities and stuff while here. While I don't mind having her around, she does need her own place and will be looking to do that.

I tried looking up information on Boarder Rights vs. Tenant Rights and unfortunately, I get mostly stuff about Canadian and Mexican immigration. So if anyone can help me look for that, it'd be awesome. Just in case there's any kind of legal recourse for recouping money from her mother.

Other than that, I guess case is closed. Well, except for the fact that her 40 something year old mother is talking shit about her on Facebook like a 14 year old girl. But hey!

Alien Queen

What kind of coffee shop? Is it a mom n' pop place or a part of a chain (like starbucks?) If it's the latter, she could maybe talk to her boss and get a transfer to a store that is closer to you guys?

My old boss did exactly that when he moved 300 miles to be closer to his partner, he simply swapped stores.

In any case, good luck man!

Darkewolfe

The police probably won't step in to help her retreive any belongings, since you'd come to the legal complication of proving who actually owns it. If that stuff is legally hers, you should include that in your small claims court suit for a month's rent as well, if it is due to her.

Trillian

Au contraire, I've seen the cops pull up with a paddywagon at midnight to load a wrongfully evicted lady's belongings and bring them to a shelter. I guess it depends on who's on duty and how much spare time they have.

Darkewolfe

Trillian wrote: »

Au contraire, I've seen the cops pull up with a paddywagon at midnight to load a wrongfully evicted lady's belongings and bring them to a shelter. I guess it depends on who's on duty and how much spare time they have.

Well, but this goes back to the family dispute versus non-family thing.

Seattle Thread

This is long past now, but aren't there any hostels or battered women's shelters in your area? I know that's not the intent, but she could've made a reasonable case for it considering that her moms is out of her gourd. And hostels are dirt cheap.

bowen

Darkewolfe wrote: »

Trillian wrote: »

Au contraire, I've seen the cops pull up with a paddywagon at midnight to load a wrongfully evicted lady's belongings and bring them to a shelter. I guess it depends on who's on duty and how much spare time they have.

Well, but this goes back to the family dispute versus non-family thing.

Not really. I've seen them do the same thing, except the mother was actively blocking the people by locking the door and such. Except they locked the mother in the back of the car until everything that belonged to the person was out of the house.

Modern Man

Thealthaslanded wrote: »

The job issue is that I live 40 miles from her mother's house. Her work is about a mile down the road from her mother's house. So she's going to be driving about 39 miles each way until we can find her a place back closer to there. Sleeping at the job is soooo not possible since it's a coffee shop. I don't think that would work at all. She is going to talk to her store manager about the situation just so he's informed in case anything comes up where she can't make it in.

Not to play down just how much of a pain this whole situation is, but 40 miles isn't really that big a deal when it comes to commuting. Depending on where you live, it's probably an hour or less each way. It's a pain in the ass, but plenty of people commute that far. And, to be blunt, if it's just a job at Starbucks or whatever, she can look for a different job closer to where she ends up living in the long-term.

At this point, I think your girfriend should take a deep breath and consider her options. If you're cool with it, her staying with you for a few weeks while she sorts everything out will probably be a good thing for her. You seem to have a pretty level head.

Esh

Makershot wrote: »

This is long past now, but aren't there any hostels or battered women's shelters in your area? I know that's not the intent, but she could've made a reasonable case for it considering that her moms is out of her gourd. And hostels are dirt cheap.

I think being kicked out of your parents house at the age of 23 doesn't qualify her for a shelter unless there was some actual abuse happening.

And OP, 39 miles isn't that big of a deal if she has a car for the time being.