Tenant wants to break the lease due to medical issues.

[Elena Pech]

I sent a lease renewal letter (4 months before the start of the new lease with no rent increase). In a few days I got response from the tenant that she just discovered a serious medical issue, is on the way to the airport to start treatment in her native country, will be back in about 6 weeks to pack and move out. She wants to move out about 2 months before the end of her lease and she wants her last month and security deposit back.  If this is a real emergency situation I can allow it and start looking for a new tenant, but is it appropriate to ask for any medical papers? What is a right approach? What's the purpose to sign the lease if it can be broken just like that? What would you do?

[Randall Alan]

@Elena Pech

The purpose of the lease is to both protect you, and provide your tenant some guarantees and the rules which you will both abide by.

With that said, when it comes to breaking a lease with notice, my theory is that I don't want to be out any money.  I'm not out to make money on my tenant breaking the lease... I'm out to make sure I don't lose money because they up and leave.  

Your tenant is giving you substantial notice.  It should be pretty easy to dove-tail a new tenant to where you aren't out any money with them leaving early.  This is basically what I tell my tenants in your situation:

"We are happy to work with you regarding your medical situation.  In lieu of what the lease states (ie. responsible for up to 2 months of rent for breaking your lease) What we ask is that you let us show the apartment in the last month before you move out so that we can line up our next tenant.  If you work with us on that, we should be able to line up a new tenant very close to when you are moving out.  You will be responsible for the rent on the apartment until the time the new tenant move in... but usually this is within a matter of a week or so with you leaving.  We will deduct any vacant time from your security deposit along with any regular damages / cleaning fees that would normally apply upon your exit."

That's sort of paraphrased... but the ultimate goal is for US to have a seamless income stream.  So we work with our tenants and try to help them out to avoid the harsher penalties the lease calls for.  Ultimately it's win-win for everyone.  I've never had a tenant not help us, which in turn helps them.  For those that just ghost us, we keep the whole security deposit and just move on.

Hope it helps!

Randy

[Elena Pech]

@Randall Alan Thanks for the detailed explanation. I'll follow this approach.

[Hunter Reed]

As far as the security deposit goes you should keep it. Everyone wants their money back and unless the tenant is willing to show you proof of out of the country medical records then maybe the deposit could be handled differently. The morale of the story is always have proof to back up credibility. 

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Elena Pech:

Medical issues are typically not a legal justification for breaking a lease, but I do recommend working with them to find a mutual agreement. I use a policy similar to Randy. Any time the Tenant breaks the lease, State law typically says the Tenant remains liable for the terms, but the Landlord must make a strong effort to replace them with another tenant and reduce the financial impact.

You have plenty of time. Negotiate marketing the rental during her last 2-4 weeks. You can typically find a replacement tenant to start renting within a couple weeks of her leaving. She pays for the vacancy days so that you don't lose anything, and everyone is happy.

[Theresa Harris]

I'd let her out of the lease early, but I wouldn't return the last month's rent and deposit.  I'd use the last month's rent for exactly that-her last month in the home (just 2 months earlier than planned).  Her deposit would be returned after she moved out and the unit was inspected and any expenses for damages were removed-ie do everything exactly as you would had she moved out at the end of the lease, but do it 2 months early.

I'd also ask her for emergency contact information of someone in the same city as the house in case something happens and she isn't back as planned to move out on time.  That way they can arrange to move her items out.  You could add something like, (insert her name) or (insert her contact person) will ensure all of (insert her name)'s belongings are removed and the unit is vacant by XXXX day.  

[Ray Hage]

This is a tough scenario. @Randall Alan said it best. Essentially, you don't want to "punish" the tenant due to a medical issue but you also need to protect yourself. I agree with paraphrased words of Randall. Work with your tenant but let her know you really don't want to lose any money due to vacancy. Personally, I wouldn't punish the tenant with the 2 months extra worth of rent clause. As long as you find a suitable tenant in time and the place has been cleaned out 100% with no damages (and you didn't lose money), just work with the tenant and move on.