Tenants ended relationship

[Erin B.]

Hello, I am hoping someone can help provide some feedback/advice on my current situation. My husband and I own a multi-family home, that we bought about 2 years ago (so we are new to being landlords).  We live on the 2nd and 3rd floor and rent out the first floor. 

In July we had a couple move in, both signed the lease for 1 full year. We were informed by the male tenant last week that the female had moved out. She did not notify us that she was breaking the lease, nor did she turn in her keys. She did send an email to the male tenant stating that he either needed to agree to take over the entire rent or find a roommate to cover the other half. (The apt is only a 1 br/1ba). She also stated if he refused, she would take it up with us, the landlords. 

The male tenant asked us to reach out to the female and request that she continue to pay half the rent as she did not give us notification that she would be vacating the premises. The lease states that if abandonment were to occur during the 1-year lease agreement that the we can hold the tenant liable for any difference between the rent that would have been payable under the PA lease agreement during the balance of the unexpired term. With that said, the lease does not contain any agreement on how much each tenant owed, only the total amount due per month. 

I am trying to look into PA tenant/landlord law to find out what we can and cannot do here. Do we reach out to the female to notify her she must continue to pay rent until the male sublets  or do we stay out of it entirely and notify the male tenant we cannot get involved?

Thank you so much for your help in this situation! 

[Bill S.]

@Erin B. personally unless you are renting by the room don't do roommate situations and don't break out the rent in your lease. You rent to the group and the group is responsible and the group must pay. You don't want to specify who pays what. You want to specify that the group pays. It's up to them to work out the sharing component. I will, as a convenience, debit differ accounts for different parts of rent but it's only a service we offer. It's not part of the rental agreement. I suppose it might come back to bite me but so far it has not.

If you don't do that. You might end up evicting one tenant in a one bedroom and being left with a tenant fully occupying the unit but legally only paying half rent. You would be stuck not being able to rent the other half and you can't evict them.