how to tell tenant he's too dirty & that you're terminating his lease?

[Sara N.]

Hi landlords! So we have a great tenant who's been living in the studio we rent out for almost 2 yrs now. He's great, pays his bills on time except he's so dirty and messy and has a cat who's litter box he doesn't seem to clean out often enough. We're planning to renovate the studio this fall--a reason to get this project going w/new bathroom, new kitchen, new floor, opened floor plan, new paint, etc. and will notify him to move out & need to terminate his lease. He may ask if he can move back in once the place is renovated (we expect the renovation should be done in 2-3 wks). How do we tell him we DON'T want him back because he's too dirty? We want someone cleaner, especially since the place will be renovated. We may put out an ad looking for a new tenant even though the place wouldn't be renovated yet so he'll surely see the ad on Craig's list, etc. How do we kindly tell him we're terminating his lease and that we don't want him back? What reason do we give him for not wanting him back? Will the truth be too painful?