Need help quick. Tenant wants to break lease.

[Stephen N.]

Ok, so here is the deal. I recently purchased a nice middle class home from an out of state owner who was renting it out to a tenant whose lease runs out at the end of July.

I bought the house sub2 and was planning on using the last half of June and all of July to market the house for a lease purchase. Initially I told the tenants I would renew the lease but I would charge more for rent. They weren’t interested. So I gave the current tenants a 45 day notice (as required by the lease) that their lease would not be renewed. I told the tenants that I would probably start marketing the house to sell it and to expect that I would call upon them from time to time to allow me to show the home. They were fine with that.

Well, I get a phone call today from the tenant saying they found another place to stay and they would be moving out at the end of June. I said that’s fine but they still would owe rent for the month of July.

Well, that’s when the tenant just went ballistic. He started out by saying he thought he was doing me a favor by moving out early because it would allow me to market the house and show the house a lot easier. Then he started trying to put a guilt trip on my by telling me that I “bought the house out from under him†and gave him an “ultimatum†by telling him his lease would only be renewed if he agreed to “pay more rent for the same houseâ€. Then he really started getting personal by saying “I don’t have a lot of money like you do. I can’t go out and buy a bunch of houses and sell them. I really need my deposit back. I’m sure my $1,600 deposit is like $16 to you.†Of course this is all a crock of you know what. I don’t have any money either. This house is MY FIRST DEAL and I basically got it with no money down.

So here are my thoughts and I would appreciate any advice you guys have give me. I know the guy owes me the last month’s rent. In a perfect world I think I should be able to demand the last months rent and allow me to show the house any time I want to a prospective buyer. The lease he originally signed specifically says I have the right to show it whenever I want. However, if I make him pay the last months rent I am concerned that a) he will tear the house up before he leaves or b) he will try to stay in the house for another month and make my life a living hell as I try to show it to prospective buyers and then tear it up at the end of july.

So what would you do?

[Michael Rossi]

Stephen,

You're in the wrong business. "Selling" a property on lease-option really means that you're getting into the rental property business. The majority of lease-option "buyers" never buy the property. You'll be doing a lot of dealing with angry tenants when they realize you've charged them an option fee and they realize that they aren't buying the house.

Back to the current situation. I agree with Eddie. I would let them go at the end of June without demanding July rent. If you think you're going to "sell" this property in June or July while the property is occupied by an angry tenant, you're sadly mistaken. I guarantee that he's going to tell every prospective tenant what a terrible landlord and person you are. You are the one forcing him out of his house for your own purposes. It is to your advantage to get him out as quickly as possible so that you can get the place ready to "sell". It would be a waste of money to market the property while this tenant is still in there. So, he's doing you a favor by leaving at the end of June.

Good Luck,

Mike