Tenant wants to end lease early due to bad area

[Chris Bergeron]

Good Morning! 

I have a quick questions and wanted to see if anyone has encountered this before. I have a Section 8 tenant who moved into one of my properties about 4 months ago. She has been an amazing tenant and I really enjoy working with her. She has been complaining about the area, and finally told me today that she wants to move out of the home because she is afraid of the area, and walking her daughters to the bus stop there are kids with guns, and there are shootings in the area every so often (this is a poverty stricken area, so I understand her concerns)

She wants to break her lease and move out early (she signed a year lease and also gave me a $1,100 deposit) Should I require her to wait until we find a new tenant? Give me 30 days notice and then vacate? Return her deposit? Etc. Any advice on this matter would be greatly helpful! Thanks

[James Dainard]

Quote from @Chris Bergeron:

Good Morning! 

I have a quick questions and wanted to see if anyone has encountered this before. I have a Section 8 tenant who moved into one of my properties about 4 months ago. She has been an amazing tenant and I really enjoy working with her. She has been complaining about the area, and finally told me today that she wants to move out of the home because she is afraid of the area, and walking her daughters to the bus stop there are kids with guns, and there are shootings in the area every so often (this is a poverty stricken area, so I understand her concerns)

She wants to break her lease and move out early (she signed a year lease and also gave me a $1,100 deposit) Should I require her to wait until we find a new tenant? Give me 30 days notice and then vacate? Return her deposit? Etc. Any advice on this matter would be greatly helpful! Thanks

Hey Chris,
Stick to your lease. If she wants to break and give up her deposit then she can leave at any time.
If she wants her deposit back and you're willing to give it to her you should do so after you've found someone to occupy the unit.
Your current tenant can leave immediately and continue to pay rent until you find someone or just give up the deposit or she can stay while you're looking for someone else. Just make sure she understands that you're working with her and she'll work with you on getting new tenants through the property.
Highly recommend that you ask her to leave for any property showings if she doesn't like the location.
Best of luck!