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You Can Stay in Your Place After the Eviction

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Legal Tactics
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Harvard Legal Aid Bureau
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Even if the court says the owner can evict you, you may be able to postpone or prevent the eviction. But you must act quickly. To learn more, see Chapter 12: Evictions - Challenging a Court-Ordered Eviction.

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If the court orders you out

If the owner wins the eviction case, they will get a paper called an execution 10 days after the court enters the judgment. The landlord can use the execution to have a sheriff or constable physically remove you and your things from your home.

The constable or sheriff must give you 48 hours’ notice before they move you out. Only a constable or sheriff can physically move you out.

Getting an order to postpone the move out

If you need more time to move, ask the court to postpone the date you have to move out. Immediately fill out the form in Stay (Booklet 9).

If you are 60 or older or you have a disability, you may ask for up to 12 months; all other tenants may ask for up to 6 months.57 The court will decide how much time to give you.

Note

The court will usually not allow you to stay longer if it was your own fault you were evicted like you did not follow the terms of your lease.

Appealing

If you lose and you still think you should have won your case, you may appeal the court's decision. You must file an appeal within 10 days of the court's decision.58 Appeals are very complicated. It is important to try and get a lawyer. See Directory for a listing of Legal Assistance resources.

Requesting an order to stop the 48-hour move-out notice

If you get a 48-hour notice from a constable and you are not able to move out, you can file a complaint for a temporary restraining order. The complaint asks the judge to stop the constable from moving you out. See Temporary Restraining Order (Form 15). You have to pay a filing fee. If you cannot afford the fee, file an Affidavit of Indigency (Booklet 10).

If you cannot get an order to stop or postpone the eviction

Only a constable or sheriff can physically move you out. They must give you at least 48 hours written notice before they make you leave. When the constable arrives, they will have the execution paper. This paper lists the names of the adults to be evicted. 

The constable cannot evict you: 

  • If you live at the property and you are over 18 but your name is not on the court papers or the execution paper.59
  • If your name is not on the court papers or the execution, the officer cannot evict your family either.60 Show the officer your ID and proof of your address. Explain that your name is not on the court papers and they must not evict you.
  • But if you get a subsidy to help pay the rent, not every adult needs to be listed on the execution. Only the head of household who signed the rental contract needs to be on the execution. 

To learn more about all of the above, see Chapter 12: Evictions - Challenging a Court-Ordered Eviction.

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Endnotes
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57. G.L. c. 239, §9.

58. G.L. c. 239, §5; U.S.P.R. 12.

59. A person entitled to live at a property cannot be removed without due process of law. U.S. Const. amend. V and Mass. Const. Art. XII and XV. “An eviction action is personal and cannot be sustained against ‘John Doe’ or ‘all others.’  Each tenant at the property must be identified by name on both the notice to quit and the summary process summons and complaint.” Barros v. Jiminez, (Boston Housing Court no. 09H84-SP-1255 (Muirhead, J., April 29, 2009.) 

60. See e.g., Santana v. Brooks, Boston Housing Court, 05-SP-00541 (Pierce, J., Apr. 14, 2005) (holding the landlord had to bring one case against both members of a couple who were both lessees for purposes of judicial economy.) 

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