Tenant Wants to Terminate Lease After 1 Week

[Brendan M Hornung]

Hello all, I had my first tenant sign a 12-month lease agreement at my property in Alabama on July 1. She has already paid rent and the security deposit but is requesting to terminate the lease after 8 days because her mother passed away. She works for her mother's business and needs to move back home.

I have read that my tenant is responsible for paying the rent until a new tenant is found. 

What I should do with the security deposit? Are there any other charges or legalities I should know of?

Any other advice would be greatly appreciated!

[JD Martin]

Two options we offer on early termination:

1. Early termination fee, which is one month of rent plus the deposit, assuming there's no damages, and they walk away clean.

2. They move out ASAP and they are responsible to maintain utilities and keep paying rent until you find a new tenant. How fast or slow that is depends on your market and price. 

We've done a few of these over the years and I've never had anyone pick Option #2. Option 1 is clean and easy and everyone walks away, and they don't have to maintain the utilities or the lawn while you are trying to find a new tenant plus keep paying rent. 

As far as just a clean cut away? No, that's too bad her mother passed away. You're not related to her mother. Let her keep paying the rent from the mother's estate if she needs to. Her family issue is not your problem; everyone dies at some point. 

PS: I've heard every excuse under the sun over the years. I wouldn't be surprised if there's no mother, or she's already dead, or living it up in Palm Springs.