Lease renewal strategies in current economic conditions

[Kosh Vokter]

Have a rental in B neighborhood that's coming up for lease renewal. The tenants have been there for the past 1 year and they have been good paying tenants for rents. If they are late for a month, they usually let me know in advance and I have waived the late fee. 

They are interested in renewing the lease and have enquired about a 6-month term lease. In the current economic conditions, do you renew for a longer period such as 12 or 9 months or a shorter period like 6 months?

I have run into a bad experience with a previous tenant who renewed their lease for 9 months and started to default in month 2 and couldn't pay their rents. It was a harder to get them out and am concerned about renewing a long-term lease should a similar situation arise with these tenants. I know it's kind of subjective but would like to know what other factors you take into consideration while renewing the lease with recession looming and the job conditions are not great. 

[Tim Johnson]

Sounds like you need to just set up a month to month lease. Assuming you have a reasonable confidence that you can fill the unit again, it would be better for both parties.