Q: Evict a tenant at will after complaints from the two other tenants living in the house.
Three tenants at will living in the same house. They have a co-tenant agreement between them. I have received multiple complaints from two of the tenants about the other individual for missing items and not helping with any chores around the house. I'm not sure weather I should evict the one tenant for nuisance or if the complaints aren't enough to do so?
A: Under Maine law, to evict a tenant at will for causing a nuisance within the premises, you will first need to provide a 7-day Notice to Quit (which must conform to the statutory guidelines) terminating the tenancy at will. As landlord, you will need to show, by affirmative proof, that the tenant caused a nuisance within the premises. This can be difficult to prove and, by definition, it is a grey area, because it is not entirely clear how much bad or disruptive conduct constitutes a nuisance. Alternatively, you can provide the tenant with a 30-day Notice to Quit (which must conform to the statutory guidelines) terminating the tenancy at will for no reason at all. In cases when the tenant has paid rent through the date when a 30-day notice would expire, the notice must expire on or after the date through which the rent has been paid.
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