Tenant Didn't Give 30 Day Notice - Is Lease End Date Still Valid?

[Wade Penner]

I have a 3BD with great tenants that have lived there for the last three years.  They wanted to stay past the original lease-end date of 6/30/24 through end of summer, so I told them they could go month-to-month through end of August.  However, I got a call from them yesterday saying that they had some things fall through and need to stick with the original 6/30 lease-end date.

I now need to do a quick turnaround on renting the place out.  I use Oregon's multi-family NW forms, but it's unclear to me exactly how to proceed.  Are they on the hook for 30 days of rent starting from when they called me, or since their lease ends in two days are they good to go without any additional fees?  If they are on the hook for any fees then would I just deduct that out of their security deposit?

Thanks!

Wade

[Andrew B.]

Check your lease. It should outline required notice, i.e. "Tenant must give 30 days notice to cancel lease." 

Depending on your lease they may owe you 30 or 60 days notice. Now you do have an obligation to mitigate your losses. That means you must work to re-rent the unit in a reasonable timeframe. If you find a new tenant, prorate any fees they pay you so you are not collecting 2 rents on the same day. 

If your lease says nothing about required notice, you may be able to hold them to the extra month if they told you in writing. If you have nothing in writing, the lost rent is your tuition fee to school of hard knocks. Use the opportunity to improve your lease.