Summary Process Summons and Complaint
A summary process (eviction) summons and complaint is the next step after a notice to quit. You must go to court to get a justice's signature and then see that this notice is delivered to the tenant in accordance with Massachusetts law.
You must hire a constable or the sheriff to serve the summons and complaint. They should be able to assist you in filling out the form, or do it entirely for you. It's worth learning how it works so that you can catch errors or mistakes made by the constable or sheriff.
We have two examples for members to view:
- A "real" SPSC. This one is messy because personally identifiable information has been redacted.
- A "clean" SPSC. This one parallels the real one but was based on the state example, which doesn't have specific court information on it. Also, we have updated the dates for calendar year 2015.
Both examples are eviction "for cause," meaning a violation of the agreement in a way other than non-payment.