Attorney in Cleveland, OH for Vacating Tenants

[Justin Wilson]

Hi all,

I had two tenants sign new 1-year leases in October.  Then they both told my property manager they are moving out in November. Then tenants were inherited from the previous owner and were month-to-month until they signed the new leases.  The property manager has a record of the new leases. From what I understand, the tenants are still required to pay the rent until the units are rented again or the lease expires.  Who should I talk to for legal advice about going after the rent?  Any help is most appreciated.

Thanks,

Justin

[Andrew Weiner]

I would expect your property manager to handle all of this.  The short answer is that the lease should cover what happens in this case.  If the lease doesn't specify a buy out or break penalty then they are on the hook for the entire lease or until someone else moves in.  As for going after the rent you would assign the debt to a collections agency or have an attorney file for a judgement and then they will try to garnish wages to collect the money.  Either way expect to pay at least 33% of the money that is recovered if they get anything at all.  Again this should all fall to the property manager, they should have a collections agency and an evictions attorney who can file for the judgement.  Also its a bit suspect that two tenants would do the same thing simultaneously unless they are related somehow.