Tenant moved out 6 months early and left a trashed apartment - best course of action?

Question

Hello all, hoping for some advice on a recent situation. A tenant I inherited when I bought my place (who pays 50% below market rent, and no security deposit or last month's rent via previous owner) just informed me with 11 day's notice, that he was moving out on Dec. 1st. We had just signed a 6 month lease with no option to renew, because the apartment has so much deferred work that needs to be done. He and his family are very low income so I'm trying to be flexible with them and their situation. While I'm glad they found a good place to move that suits their needs, they really left me in a bind. I'm not happy about it, but I can accept them moving out early, but he moved out being a month behind on rent, and with piles and piles of furniture and trash left in the apartment. There is food in the fridge and a huge chest freezer full of stuff.

I'm owed $1000 in back rent, and I'm estimating about $1000 for hauling away the stuff from the apartment. Oh, and surprise, he hasn't returned phone calls or texts. All calls and texts from my end have been very professional and requesting to work things out in a peaceful way that works for both of us.

What's the best course of action?

Kevin Sobilo · Answer

@Benjamin Sawicki, first off this absolutely sounds like an outcome you should have expected and been prepared for when you purchased the place. You knew the situation with the rental, lack of security deposit etc.

So, with these costs factored into your plans right from the time of purchase, they are really just part of the costs to get the place rehabbed and you haven't "lost" anything per se.

With a clean-out like this I typically take anything usable to the Salvation Army as a charitable donation. If the clothes etc are in poor condition I drop them at another charity that grinds up materials to make insulation. In that way I can dispose of a large portion of bulk at little cost.

When I've fully assessed the damages, I would try to contact the former tenant and let them know the costs. I would explain how a judgement against them adds to the amount with court costs and then interest on an unpaid judgement and that collections could involve wage garnishment etc. I would also touch on how a judgement could keep them from getting into another decent rental when they move again etc. Basically encourage them to want to negotiate and pay something. If they do communicate and offer any substantial amount you are probably better off taking it and moving on even if its just a couple hundred bucks.

If the tenant doesn't agree to pay anything, I would just follow up and sue in small claims court knowing that in many cases the judgement is not going to be collectable.

Theresa Harris · Answer

If they have no money, then it is going to be a waste of time to go after them in small claim's court.  With a 6 month lease and no option for renewal, they likely saw the writing on the wall and as soon as they found a new place in their budget, they moved.  That is why they didn't pay the last month's rent-they used that as a deposit on the new place.

get it cleaned up and renovated and move on as Charles suggested.  I've had two tenants do what you mentioned and if you are out $1000 for removing items and another $1000 for rent, while it sucks, that isn't bad.  It was also probably below market value for rent, so in the long run you will get some of that money back through the higher rent.

Charles Carillo · Answer

@Benjamin Sawicki

I would suggest cleaning the place while completing any renovations you were planning on and then re-renting it. After being a landlord since 2006, there isn't much you can do. Yes, if you spent the time, you probably could get a judgment against them, but you need to find them and this takes time and money. Secondly, once you get the judgment, how are you going to collect from "very low-income" tenants? I would make ready the unit and rent it.

Alecia Loveless · Answer

@Benjamin Sawicki It may or may not be hard to get it rented during the month of December so move as quickly as possible to get it ready. I’d just write off the lost rent and the cost of the clean out because my schedule is too busy to spend several hours pursuing it in court as the small claims court is an hour from where I live.

My personal advice is to WAIT UNTIL RENOVATIONS ARE FINISHED TO BEGIN SHOWING IT.

New potential tenants have no vision for completed renovations and just see tools and construction mess and will leave and never look back. I made this mistake with my first two renovations and I quickly learned.

Just had 97 applications from a 22 hour listing on a local Facebook Marketplace ad in a town of about 2800 people. The first one was a referral from tenants in the same building that I ended up accepting and am now responding back to the others from the list about another property I have.

I wish you as much success in renting yours out once you have completed the upgrades!

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Agree with the others. You put yourself in this situation by running the property like a charity. You will eventually learn that people do not appreciate generosity and will bite the hand that feeds them.

Clean it up, and rent it for market rate.

Alex Hileman · Answer

I would take photos of the damages and trash, clean it out and get it rent ready, file a judgement, and send the balance of the rent and damages to a collection agency. If they collect anything, they will likely keep 40%, but at least you could get something while they do the follow up work.

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

Everyone is saying that Small Claims is not worth pursuing because you will probably not get your money....This might be true, however, there is a better reason to go this route.

Once you get a Judgement, you need to get it Recorded. This is the step that many forget about (or don't know about).

Once you have the Judgement recorded, this will follow and haunt these people forever. It will show up on every credit check they have run on them. So the next car they want to buy...? Oooops! The next rental application? Oooops!

If you are a 'do-gooder' type of person, you may feel like this is punishing them. And you're right, it is. But they have wronged you and even though you may never see a dime of the money owed you, you owe it to the next Landlord to warn them about this person so they do not go through the same BS you had to go through.

Ned J. · Answer

Clean, fix, rent and move on with your life.... you wont see a dime of that $$, so why sink more time into pursuing it?

Move on....

Benjamin Sawicki · Answer

Thanks all! Most of these ideas were along my lines of thinking. I'm looking forward to choosing my next tenant and will of course put into place safeguards for the future. I'm also very glad to hear that people have donated things left behind. There were lot of useable items left behind so I'm definitely going to donate them.

John Underwood · Answer

I agree. Don't worry about them. Get the place fixed up and rented as soon as possible.

Tenant moved out 6 months early and left a trashed apartment - best course of action?

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