Newbie Landlord Dealing With Tenant Requesting to Break Lease

[Barrett Lund]

I leased out 4 of my units to a single renter who transformed the units into STRs. I was fully ok with this, as I wanted to be as hands-off as possible. Long story short his business or business model is failing and he is requesting an early termination of the lease. AirBNB has suspended the listing and it may be months before it can be relisted on the site. There is no early termination clause in the lease. The renter is behind around $3000 in rent payments and has over six months remaining on the lease. I'm open to breaking the lease and finding a better renter or renters regardless, I'm even interested in doing the STRs myself. The units were furnished by the renter. If monthly rent is around $4000, what would be a fair negotiation to let him break the lease?

[Nathan Gesner]

And this is why so many of us warn against AirBnB arbitrage.

If you want to be hands-off, then hire a qualified property manager. Or, if zoning permits, continue operating it as a short-term rental but use a professional company that does it for a living instead of someone that just watched a couple YouTube videos.

There's almost no chance you'll get any money out of him for termination when he can't even pay what he already owes. Tell him you'll forgive his unpaid rent and terminate early in exchange for the furnishings. Get it in writing, change the locks, and move on.