Tenant moved out without notice..has 11 months left on lease

[Mason Walker]

Hi everyone, I just found out that one of my tenants has moved out without warning..or proper notice. He signed a two year lease and as of today has about 11 months left before it expires.

I thought it was strange when he didn’t show up to pay the rent on the 25th (rent is due on the 1st but he always pays early on the 25th) but we did have a small argument a few weeks ago so I figured he was just still upset and didn’t want to pay early this month. Argument was about the lease, by the way. He was trying to violate one of the terms and fighting with me on it. I wouldn’t budge and his attitude got nasty. He cussed me out so I told him I would not be renewing his lease when it expired. He stopped trying to argue the lease and I haven’t heard from him since.

I had to stop by the rentals yesterday to see if the lawn needed to be cut, and I noticed that his car and outdoor decor were gone. I spoke to one of the neighbors and she said that she saw him move out a couple weeks ago, uhaul and all. I cannot see inside the unit as the curtains are shut but the neighbor across the street and my tenant in the unit next to him insists he is gone. They were surprised I didn’t know. He didn’t leave the key and will not answer my phone calls. 

Where do I go from here? In my state I’m pretty sure he needed to give me a 60 day notice, but he just up and left with zero notice. Am I allowed to enter the unit tomorrow? He has paid rent up until today, May 31. Is he responsible for the rent until I find a new tenant since he broke the lease without proper notice? If anyone has gone through this before or knows how I should proceed, I would very much appreciate your input. Thank you!

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Mason Walker:

Hi everyone, I just found out that one of my tenants has moved out without warning..or proper notice. He signed a two year lease and as of today has about 11 months left before it expires.

I thought it was strange when he didn’t show up to pay the rent on the 25th (rent is due on the 1st but he always pays early on the 25th) but we did have a small argument a few weeks ago so I figured he was just still upset and didn’t want to pay early this month. Argument was about the lease, by the way. He was trying to violate one of the terms and fighting with me on it. I wouldn’t budge and his attitude got nasty. He cussed me out so I told him I would not be renewing his lease when it expired. He stopped trying to argue the lease and I haven’t heard from him since.

I had to stop by the rentals yesterday to see if the lawn needed to be cut, and I noticed that his car and outdoor decor were gone. I spoke to one of the neighbors and she said that she saw him move out a couple weeks ago, uhaul and all. I cannot see inside the unit as the curtains are shut but the neighbor across the street and my tenant in the unit next to him insists he is gone. They were surprised I didn’t know. He didn’t leave the key and will not answer my phone calls. 

Where do I go from here? In my state I’m pretty sure he needed to give me a 60 day notice, but he just up and left with zero notice. Am I allowed to enter the unit tomorrow? He has paid rent up until today, May 31. Is he responsible for the rent until I find a new tenant since he broke the lease without proper notice? If anyone has gone through this before or knows how I should proceed, I would very much appreciate your input. Thank you!

Confirm he's gone. If he is, send him notice that the lease is terminated, he abandoned the property, he remains responsible for the terms of the agreement until a replacement tenant is found.

Clean, market, and rent the unit. 

Once you have a final bill to include cleaning, repairs, unpaid rent, etc., apply the deposit, send a list of charges and any unpaid balance, and include a demand for payment within 30 days.

He won't pay a dime, so you have to decide if you will go after him or just write it off.

In the future, stick with one year leases. 80% of longer leases will end up breaking the lease and leaving early, so there's no benefit to you. Tenants typically ask for longer leases to (a) get a discount, (b) entice you to skip some screening, or (c) pick them ahead of other qualified applicants. There's no reason to play that game. Charge market rate, rent for a year, renew them with an increase if they meet all your expectations.