I am currently a tenant in a house that was foreclosed by the city of Lynn on a tax lien. In June the city tried to be sneaky and just throw me out, claiming code violations (all in the cellar) and no occupancy permit declaring it uninhabitable. I filed a motion for a TRO and I went to a mediation hearing with a housing specialist and we agreed they would give me until Aug 30. In June when I got home from court there was a water shut off notice on the door, I notified the city atty and he said it is all set for now, but only until Sept 1 then it will be shut off. Now my problem is that I have not yet found a suitable place and I need more time. The city attorney is not a reasonable person and he only agreed to give me until Aug 30 because he failed to issue me a written notice to quit. If I am not ready to leave Aug 30 can they just kick me out or shut off the water? I still never received any notice, we just had an agreement we signed back in June. The city’s reasoning is that the heating system is non operable and the city will not spend any $$ on repairs because they already existed prior to foreclosure. Is the city legally responsible as my landlord to repair this and other violations? If I just stay put will they have to go through the whole evictions process from step 1? I feel as though they have an unfair advantage where if it were a mortgage foreclosure the bank would have to make the repairs or face legal consequences, the city seems to think they can do whatever they please including having their own officials just condemn it. Please advise me on any options I may have. I do plan to purchase a “fixer upper” possibly in the same city so I’d rather not make an enemy, however he is not a reasonable person to just approach and ask for more time.

Tenant rent and damage liability
If a tenant does not pay rent for sept., and after I’ve given registered letters requesting rent, then a notice to quit (10/2)for non payment & breach of lease, and also letters requesting information response, and they still are on property on oct 2, then I notice their abandonment on the 7th, leaving substantial damages to the property. I sent a registered letter (10/7) stating that I had entered because of abandonment, requested the keys again, and gave the long list of damages.
Am I right to understand that they owe rent for sept, (”last” to be used for Oct), and any damages that exceed the one month security held (on acct. w/interest as required)? What period begins my 30 days to address security and damage claim? If they are not responsive, do I seek to collect via the courts-small claims?