I am a new landlord. My tenant is now late on his rent due sept 1. Welfare is going to pay me his August rent on sept 4. our lease agrees that if he has not paid by the 15th I may proceed with an eviction. I have recently learned that this woman's live in boyfriend(co-tenant on the lease) abuses her. They leave their 8yr and 1yr old at home alone.I also believe that he is doing and possibly selling drugs but have no proof. All the other tenants have complained and I currently have them putting those complaints in writing. All I want is for them to leave, I don't really even care about the money. Do I need a lawyer, and what is the fastest, most effective way to get rid of them?

Is there a lease violation you can site them for? You can do an eviction of a violation other than non-payment, but it can be more difficult. They sound like the kind of people who may just move if you start legal proceedings. But don't count on that.

If she has unauthorized occupants her benefits may be in jeopardy. Supposedly, if they violate their lease they lose their benefits for 3 years. You might try that angle.

Of couse, money talks. You can always pay them to leave. How badly do you want them gone??

If you just want them out, after the 15th serve them with official notice to move, if they don't, you go down and do a formal eviction at the court house.

Do you need an attorney, no but yes, since it is obvoiius you do not know your states eviction and landlord laws, you need to go down and have an attorney educate you on what you can and can't do before you get stuck doing something wrong and paying the tenant a lot of money

There are stickies at the top of the main page for this section that will tell you a lot of the various state laws on rentals

SSKS420 - update to my previous question:
I do know my local laws on how to evict someone for non-payment of rent. What I really would like some insight on is, if he does pay his rent by the 15th, and I can't evict him for that, do I still have grounds to give him an unconditional quit notice. If I do go this route I imagine it is in my best interest to consult with a local lawyer.

Well, now I'm confused. You refer to "him" as the tenant, and then you say "this woman's boyfriend". WHO exactly is your lease with? Who is the party on welfare? And who is authorized by your lease to live there?

If there is one or more lease violation(s), of course you can give them a quit notice. My Justice of the Peace (eviction court) actually has a separate form to fill out to file an eviction for non-payment and for other lease violations, but the process is the same. You just need to have proof to present to the judge. Witnesses, police reports, photos, etc.

Have you said where you're located? I would strongly recommend contacting this person's case worker. I assume it's the woman who is the welfare recipient? If so, and the boyfriend isn't authorized to be there, I think that's your best angle. Give her a 3 day or 5 day notice - whatever your lease and state law requires. I jwould TELL her that the same day you file in court you'll be calling her case worker to report the boyfriend living there. She will lose her benefits for 3 years. Just make sure you have the eviction ball rolling before you report it to the case worker.