for directed verdicts and to the denial of the plaintiffs' requests for instructions to the jury.
The plaintiff Fannie Goode became a tenant at will of the defendant in 1954. This tenancy continued until sometime in 1958.
The defendant brought an action of summary process in the Municipal Court of the Dorchester District against the plaintiff Fannie Goode. On May 22, 1958, in those proceedings there was a finding for the plaintiff (the defendant in this case) for possession. Execution was stayed until September 1, 1958. We assume that the defendant gave notice to Fannie Goode that the tenancy would terminate at the end of April, 1958.
The defendant, through her husband, received a check dated April 1, 1958, for the April rent, a check dated May 1, 1958, for theMay rent, and a check dated June 1, 1958, for the June rent. Whether any rent was paid in July is in dispute.
On July 7, 1958, the plaintiff Stanley Goode fell while reaching for the top step leading to the apartment and sustained personal injuries. The plaintiffs allege that the accident was due to the defendant's negligence in allowing a light in the stairway to become nonfunctional.
The tenancy at will begun in 1954 was terminated on April 30, 1958, the end of the notice period. The summary process proceedings made it res judicata that the tenancy was ended. Gordon v. Sales, 337 Mass. 35, 36. Considering the evidence in an aspect most favorable to the plaintiffs, it could have been found that a new tenancy at will was