MA- roommate not paying share of rent

One of my roommates moved out early before the lease on our apartment was over and found a sublettor to replace her. We only know the sublettor's full name and city/state of residence (she has been transferring money to us through her bank to pay for rent) and she has signed onto the lease. She has not paid for rent for this month, and has disappeared on us. She will not answer our phone calls and has locked the key to her room. She still has some of her stuff in the apartment. What are our legal options should she come back to claim some of her items?

[annjd]

You unfortunately normally have to evict her now if she is living there.

You can sue her in small claims and sue the original roommate as well since she is still liable unless you gave her a written release.

I'm confused by your terms. Is this a sublettor who merely took over your roommate's portion of her lease, or someone who signed a new lease? If she signed a new lease, she is no longer a sublettor but another roommmate in your unit.

If she is a sublettor and has not signed a new lease, you can sue the former roommate. Serve the former roommate (and post a notice on the new roommate's door) with a Pay or Quit notice. The former roommate is still responsible for the rent if the new sublettor does not pay. You can then evict the former and new roommates together if rent is not paid.

If the person signed a new lease, you have no claim against the former roommate and will have to serve the Pay or Quit on only the new roommate. Research her address through the internet (try zabaserach or google) then confirm through phone records or census data. Send the notice there by both rgular mail and certified mail (return receipt requested).

Thanks for the reply.

It's actually a new lease, sorry about the confusion in the initial post . Because of the timing of this, I don't know how long it may take us to find a new person to take up that portion of the lease. If we go this eviction route, does that leave her completely off the hook for the unpaid rent during the period that we don't find someone to take up her share of the lease (I think this is possibly why she is doing this)?

An eviction does release her from the lease once a court gives you possession. But since you seem to have little or no info on this tenant, the chances of you winning and actually collecting on a judgement for that unpaid rent is slim. An eviction will force her to clean out her belongings (or the court will set it out for her) and you will be free to re-rent the room and collect the rent from that area from a new tenant. It may also jar her into reality and make her pay the rent before you file for eviction.