Tenant Not Paying Rent

[Henry Peñate]

Hello all,

I’m in a situation where tenant has signed a month to month lease since August 2021, where a 60 day notice must be given to move out.

Now July of this year. I did misinform her on July 7th that it would have to be a 30 day notice but on Tuesday July 19th she informed me that she would be fully moved out by that weekend. July 31st I got a hold of her and she said everything is moved out but she hasn’t cleaned.

As of today rent hasn’t been paid and it is overdue by the lease. I’ve waited for her to return keys but she just mentions she’s not in town and she will return to house that still needs to be cleaned. I suggested that she could pay rent for the month and I could also hire a cleaning company on her behalf using the rent money and once house is vacated we could pro rate and refund remaining balance.

I still haven’t received notice wether she will pay but she did read my text messages

What should I do? I don’t want to enter house and prepare for showings yet until I know I won’t be in the wrong according to tenant laws.

Thanks all !

[Scott Trench]

Parts of this are very confusing. Let me see if I understand: 

- You gave 30 days notice to this tenant (should have been 60 days per local laws) to move out on July 7th. 

- The tenant agreed to move out by this coming weekend per your request. 

- The tenant has moved all her stuff, but has not cleaned the unit. 

- Rent has not been paid (either July OR August - unclear which here).

To me, it's not even clear that you have a problem yet. Sounds the like the tenant is on her way out and will be gone by this weekend, as you requested. She says her stuff is gone, and she just has to clean. 

If she owes you AUGUST rent, you are talking about a very small payment, pro-rated for just 5-7 days of the month. She may not even be aware that she has to pay you for August. 

I'd make it very clear to her that she owes you August rent for only a small number of days - If your rent is $1,000 per month, for example, and she owes rent through the 5th of the month, she'd owe you 5/31 x $1,000, or $161.29 for August rent, if she is vacating on the 5th as you requested. You are in good shape if this is close to reality. You have the security deposit, and can simply deduct this from the deposit when you return things. 

Another tactic here is to simply schedule your move-out inspection for the day she agreed to vacate the property. You have to be there anyways, and that creates a clear deadline. You have every right to schedule this with enough advance warning, so you can enter regardless of whether she is there or not. 

Also, if you haven't already, I'd update the terms of your lease. You should be able to inspect the property once you give notice, so that you know what work, if any, needs to be done to get the unit rent-ready again. Then, you should also be allowed to schedule showings prior to move-out. There's no reason a turnover event has to cause ANY vacancy (unless the unit needs to be renovated before the next tenant), in the future, as you can have the next tenant set to move in the day the current one moves out, or the next day. 

To sum this all up - I recommend that you read some books on property management, perhaps even our book from Brandon Turner - The Book on Managing Rental Properties, to help you get some systems up and running for your rental here.