I own a 2 family house in Massachusetts and I live in the first floor unit with a new roommate. I didn't know him prior to him moving in. He moved in on April 1st and gave me the $500 rent money before I gave him the keys. Yesterday when I asked him for the rent money for May he told me that his identity was stolen and his accounts were emptied and he will not have the money for at least two weeks. First of all, I don't believe him. Secondly, I want him out anyway because he has 3 or 4 people crash on his floor every night and I am woken up many times throughout the night and he leaves dirty dishes everywhere and it's just not working out. I've tried talking to him about these issues but they have not improved much. The lack of rent payment for May is the last straw at this point. We do not have any kind of written agreement but I do have emails from my Craigslist ad that state that I am looking for a month to month tenancy at will. I assume because he hasn't paid rent for May that I can kick him out at any time. I do not legally have to give him 30 days written notice do I? I want to tell him he needs to be out by Sunday night and that I will be changing the locks Monday. Thanks for your advice.

I would just say GET OUT!

You have no legal papers the you both signed and the verbal of him paying rent was voided when he didn't pay!

I would go to the local court and ask the Help desk... that way you can tell him he needs to get out and if he doesn't you can get him out.

Good Luck! Its not easy. I hope all works out well!

Since he paid you at least one rent payment you have to follow the laws for eviction of a tenant. The good news is, if you're evicting for non-payment of rent then the written notice you must give him is either 3, 5 or 7 days, depending on your state. The bad news is that if he pays the rent in full you can't evict.

If you want to terminate his lease then you have to give him 30 days notice. I strongly recommend that you give him written notice. If he hasn't left at the end of 30 days then you can file a lawsuit for eviction.

File both the 30 day notice to quit and the 3 day notice. Cover your bases.

Just a point here. You can ask him to leave immediately. However, if he doesn't then you will have to go through the formal process of eviction.