Problem tenants are offering to break lease early

[Cathy S.]

Seeking advice! I have an interesting situation. Current problem tenants who I inherited and have not paid 9 months rent due to Covid are trying to break their lease 1 month early! I did get all their owed rent from the city of San Diego though.

I’m currently doing garage construction and the noise has been getting to them and they have said that they will vacate by end of month (dream come true) if I don’t charge them for the month of April. Their lease actually ends on April 30. Literally a few weeks ago they said they wanted a lease renewal to “save up money for a house” but I said no I’m not renewing due to renovations.

I want them out asap so it’s a miracle that they are trying to leave on their own. Now the question is do I still try to get them to pay for the month of April? On one hand yes that is the legal agreement that is the lease. On the other hand the sooner they get out of my property the better so I’m willing to forgo that one month’s rent, renovate it and rent it to better tenants

[Dan H.]

I fear if you try to collect what is due, they will simply stay the extra month.  How will that benefit you?  Am I missing something?  You want them out and they are willing to move out early and you are asking if you should make them stay for the additional month specified in the lease?

Seems like an easy decision to me.

I had a high maintenance tenant once (I suspect she also was bipolar) that for some reason had more than their fair share of legit problems with the unit as well as a slew of other items that they complained about or was of their own doing.  It seemed best for both of us for them to leave before the lease expiration.  I offered to let them leave early and they took me up on the offer.  I think it was good for both parties; I know it was good for us.  

The next tenant in that unit had zero issues for an extended duration (until they had the mother of all issues, the front of the unit caught fire and took 12 months to rebuild).  I would have kept this tenant, if possible, but we had no empty unit to relocate him (the fire took out two of our units).

Having the high maintenance tenant move out worked out well for me.  I think you should not look the gift horse in the mouth.

good luck