Be thankful.

Landlord rule #1 - never rent to family or friends

I believe you are learning a valuable lesson, never rent to family or friends. That being said, do you have any kind of written rental agreement with your niece? How long has she been living with you? Is this a single family that you own or a multifamily building?

Your first step is to issue her a 14 day notice to quit for non payment of rent. There is is a very specific MA form to use depending upon whether she is a term tenant or a tenant at will. You must be able to prove that she received it. I suggest that you use either a sheriff or a local constable to do this for you. Once the 14 days are up you will have to have either a sheriff or a constable serve her with a summons to appear in court. Once you case is heard she has certain rights & there is also an appeal process available to her. If things go smooth you might have a court order telling her to leave in 6-8 weeks. If she uses legal aid & plays the victim it can take months to get her out.

Have you talked with her parents about this?

Have you considered offering her cash for keys?

This is the home you live in?

The rules may be different than if you were renting the full house.

Do you have a written agreement?

Since the police have already been called, and an unauthorized person seems to be moved in, plus she is late, you may be able to lock them out, but I don't know.

If you own a house, and you rent a room in it to someone, that person is a tenant.

If you own a house, and you rent a room in it to someone, and you live in the house as well, that other person is a lodger.

www. lectlaw. com/ files/lat07.htm

is a good place to start, but an attorney is a better place to walk you through the process that's specific to your area.

From the website, though:

A Rooming or Boarding House Tenancy is different from the two other types of tenancies. Termination notices vary depending on the length of tenancy:

Length Notice Required

3 months 30 days

(*Exception: The landlord is only required to give a 7-day notice if tenant is disorderly or bothersome to other tenants OR if tenant pays weekly.)

After three months of tenancy, the rooming house tenant is considered a tenant-at-will and afforded all rights of a tenant-at-will.

A Tenant-at-Will is one who occupies a rented premises 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 tenant may terminate this arrangement by giving written notice 30 days or one full rental period in advance, whichever is longer. No reason is required to terminate. If rent is paid the first of each month, notice should be given prior to the first day of the month. However, either the landlord or the tenant may be able to give notice as late as the first day of the month itself. For extra protection send the notice both by certified mail, return receipt-requested, and by regular mail.

Rights Against Retaliation: Although the landlord of a Tenant-at-Will can terminate the tenancy or raise the rent without reason, s/he cannot do so in response to the tenant's exercising his or her legal rights. If the landlord tries to raise your rent, terminate or otherwise change your tenancy within six months of when you contact the Board of Health, join a tenants' organization, or exercise other legal rights, the landlord's action will be considered retaliation against you. Unless the landlord can prove that s/he is changing the tenancy for reasons other than your having exercised your rights, the landlord will not be able to raise the rent, change or terminate the tenancy. While the law does offer this protection, be aware that the landlord may attempt to retaliate against you. See information on counterclaims under "EVICTION"

Late Payment Penalty: Tenants should pay rent on time. The landlord can't charge any interest or a penalty until 30 days after the due date. However, the landlord can begin the eviction process immediately - even if the rent is only one day overdue. (M.G.L., c. 186,sec 15B). The landlord also cannot use a reverse penalty clause to encourage tenants to pay early. For example, it is illegal for a landlord who charges $400 per month to reduce the rent by 10% if the rent is paid within the first five days of the month.

The forum did something wonky, thinking I was trying to write tags...

Length Notice Required

If the lodger has been in place less than 30 days, no notice is required

If the lodger has been in place from 30 to 90 days, seven days' notice is required

If the lodger has been in place for greater than 3 months, they require 30 days' notice

After slogging through a lot of other stuff that's important to read, I also noticed:

EVICTION

IF YOU ARE A TENANT WITH A LEASE, your landlord may attempt to evict you if:

* You have not been paying your rent (Non-Payment Eviction)

* You or people under your control have caused excessive damage to the apartment or you have violated terms of your lease (e.g., subletting or pets without permission) (Other Cause Eviction)

Your landlord must first send you a "Notice to Quit." The terms of your lease will dictate the notice required. Typically, if you are being evicted for non-payment of rent, you must receive a 14-day notice by law, and for other-cause eviction, notice as specified in the lease,typically a 7-day notice.

IF YOU ARE A TENANT-AT-WILL, your landlord is not required to give you any reason for termination of your tenancy, but there must be reason to evict. The fact that your landlord has terminated your tenancy-at-will, however, constitutes sufficient reason. The termination notice (see "Types of Tenancies") is the "Notice to Quit."

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO MOVE OUT OF YOUR APARTMENT AFTER THE 14 OR 7 DAYS. You may only be evicted from your apartment when a judge orders you evicted. If this is the first time in a 12-month period that you are being evicted for non-payment of rent, you may avoid eviction by paying up any rent owed within ten days of receipt of the notice. The notice of a tenant's rights to cure in a non-payment case must appear on the "Notice to Quit." If the notice does not appear, as it may not in the case of a tenant-at- will, the tenant has until the date the Answer is due to pay up back rent.

John,a little more info from you would help us point you in the right direction.

Do you actually own this property or are you renting it?

Do you have any kind of written agreement with your niece?

How long has she lived there & paid rent to you?

Are there any others who also rent rooms at this property?

Are you over 60?

Was anyone charged or arrested when the police came?

Was anyone present during the booze party over 21 besides you?

Does your community go after the parents/ host /property owner when they raid a party like this.

Have you applied for a restraining order against the boyfriend, or niece of anyone else?

Assuming your post is real - and I'm not sure it is:

You need to contact a lawyer who handles evictions as soon as possible and move to get her out as fast as you can.

Don't change locks or do anything else that could be considered a self-help eviction unless you're on strong legal footing.

There is no reason to talk to her parents - she's an adult.

Never offer cash for keys.

When she is out you will have to do a lot of work on the house - including changing the locks.

Assuming your post is real - and I'm not sure it is:

You need to contact a lawyer who handles evictions as soon as possible and move to get her out as fast as you can.

Don't change locks or do anything else that could be considered a self-help eviction unless you're on strong legal footing.

There is no reason to talk to her parents - she's an adult.

Never offer cash for keys.

When she is out you will have to do a lot of work on the house - including changing the locks.

Your state laws may vary from other states represented on this forum in regard to what is legal, but regardless it's way past time to take action. There is no redeeming this situation. Just get her out ASAP. Call a lawyer if you need to.

Personally, I would give her a 24 hour notice to vacate the premises, and anything left after that time (including the boyfriend) will be dumped on the curb for the trash man and the "pickers" along with a big "FREE" sign. If she decided she wanted to take me on in court...GAME ON!

Sid's first sentence is correct, but contacting a lawyer is a must. The second one? Sorry, but that's very bad advice.

The owner could be setting himself up for a lot of legal hassles and expense.

John doesn't say how long his niece has been living there. Maybe her car is registered to that address. It's where she gets her mail. Maybe she has a 1-year lease and she's a few months in. Maybe, or maybe not. What does the law say?

Tossing her out and putting her stuff on the lawn would be self-help eviction in many situations. Terrible idea.

John got himself into this mess, but he has to get out of it in a way that doesn't makes things a lot worse.

John, Are you a landlord of other property? How long has this young person been living with you?

If no written agreement, and she has only been there a couple of months, I'd do like Sid and just lock her out. Box all her stuff and set it on the porch, or deliver it to her parent's home.

I think we have just been sucked into tenant drama.

Nothing in writing... Sorry, gotta shake my head when I read stuff like this.

What did your lawyer say about how to handle this, or do you plan on doing it on your own?