Legal Questions: Need to evict our roommate in Massachusetts
My Fiance and I own a single family home and rent two upstairs bedrooms out to two roommate/tenants on month-to-month leases. We did not collect security deposits from either tenant, and instead wrote up explicit "month-to-month" tenant agreements which they both signed stating that no deposit was accepted. We have had one of the tenants for some time and while she drives us crazy, when corrected she does make an effort to follow the rules of the house. A few months ago we accepted a second roommate, ignoring some red flags on her rental history because we needed the extra monthly income. We have learned that she was (possibly still is) suing her previous landlord. This leads us to believe that she has the potential of being actively vindictive when she is not happy in her living situation.
This morning my alarm clock woke her up (through the walls and ceiling as her bedroom is a floor above mine) and I was 'too slow' to turn it off so she barged into my private bedroom just as I was hitting the button. She then slammed my door aggressively, stomping all the way up to her room and slamming that door as well. I texted her as I was headed out of the house that slamming doors in anger would not be tolerated under any circumstance and that I would buy a vibrating alarm if it was that problematic for her. She doubled down asserting that I'm disrespectful for waking her up with my alarm repeatedly and demanding a roommate meeting. She did seem to understand that it was not up for discussion so I let her know that if she did not like my solution and couldn't get in line with not slamming doors she could leave. She sent out a group text summoning a roommate meeting to discuss issues her and our first roommate have.
I spoke to my first roommate who claims she has no issues and only wanted to talk about upcoming vacation schedules and about upcoming renovation plans. We feel that roommate 2 is looking for reinforcement to continue to discuss this mornings disagreement from the other roommate and we have no patience to sit around and talk about our 'feelings' about the matter. I also don't care to troubleshoot other newer problems she has chosen to air now because I want her out of my house after how she spoke to me this morning. I asked her what 'other issues' need to be addressed and she responded by accusing me of being 'verbally abusive' with my 'tone' (via text conversation) and that I was inappropriately 'badgering' her to tell me *now* what she wanted to discuss requiring a house meeting. She then said that it was her right to call a meeting and that she is 'disappointed' I wont hear the 'complaints of (my) tenant*s*' asserting explicitly they both have 'issues' to raise. She has lived with us a very short time (4 months) and leaves dishes in the sink, burns incense (had to be asked twice to stop), cleaned the shared bathroom once after being asked, and has never bought any paper products as indicated on her roommate agreement. For the most part it's been fine but her performance this morning and rental history tell us it's not a good fit. She seems too eager for a fight. Her condescending attitude and the fact that it seems as though she is trying to create large issues where there are none have really soured our impression of her and I want her gone. It's my house and she is month to month so I don't think I need much in terms of justifying that it just isn't working out.
In the process of telling her it was not working out she told us in the group text that her 'decision has been made' after I had 'denied (her) a meeting' and that she would 'let (us) know when (she) found another place to live'. Sounds good to us! The problem: we do not want her hanging around until she finds another place because it could be 6 months from now for all we know. I have a feeling she will try to find problems with the house the longer she stays as we are doing some construction and as mentioned it's an old house in the meantime to seek legal action as she did with her former landlord over code violations she finds or creates while living in the house. I'm uncomfortable living with her and want her out as soon as possible to avoid any argument she might try to make in housing court.
My specific questions are:
-Where do I find out what her legal rights are as a roommate in an expressively month-to-month agreement with no deposit in a home that we own and occupy with tenants? The Massachusetts laws I am aware of deal more particularly with rental properties that are not jointly occupied by the landlords.
-What are the best options for removing her without legal retaliation? My concern is that if we wait until she leaves on her own accord as she threatened, and we end up needing her out faster she will be able to say we are being retaliatory. I'm inclined to provide her with a formal letter ending her month-to-month agreement and letting her know she is being asked to leave so that she cannot stretch the date out longer or claim that she gave notice when she was actually asked to leave.
-Are we obligated to comply with her request to have a 'meeting' to prove cooperativeness or can we just tell her it's not a good fit and let that be reason enough to ask her to leave?
-She paid rent for Feb already so I interpret that to mean she needs to be completely out by the end of March. If she leaves anything behind we are obligated to put it in a storage unit at our own expense?
-Do I have enough grounds for eviction?
I actually feel really bad about forcing her out without having a backup place to live but I really just don't trust her and feel we are putting ourselves at risk by being too lenient.
We knowingly took the risk of being in this situation by giving her the benefit of the doubt despite bad rental history upon signing the tenancy agreement because we needed the additional income. Now what is the best way to end her tenancy?