Removing one tenant in a 2-person household

[Wesley W.]

Hello folks!

Today I have an issue I need to leverage the collective wisdom on the BP forums for.

I have a terrific tenant (single woman) who recently asked for her boyfriend to move in.  So, I had him fill out an application, had them both sign a new lease (M2M), and voila!

Well, here we are a few months later, and I get a frantic text from her.  Suffice it to say, the guy has become physically abusive and she wants him out.  I haven't had time to dig in to the situation yet with her, so I'm not sure at this point that HE knows she wants him out.  So, here are my questions...

Scenario #1:  Boyfriend agrees to leave.  In this situation, can I just have them both sign a release saying he is no longer occupying the unit and he is absolved of any future financial responsibility associated with its upkeep, he waives any claim to tenancy, and she is the sole tenant with sole responsibility moving forward?  If this is acceptable, does anyone have a copy of such a document they would be willing to share?

Scenario #2:  Boyfriend refuses to leave.  Is there an easier way of me extricating him from this contract (and tenancy) without me sending a 30-day notice of termination to both tenants?  Could I send a notice of termination just to him?  Is there another option?

I'm trying to learn a lesson from this experience, but I am not sure how I could have done this any differently to avoid the current situation.

I've been putting the "move-in significant others" on a new M2M lease with my original tenant.  My logic is it holds them both financially responsible in case there is damage or a non-payment issue in the future with either or both.

I thought of just adding an addendum to the lease for the SO as an "authorized occupant" that I could terminate with a shorter notice, but I am not sure that would fly here in tenant-friendly NY.  I believe that any occupant is considered a tenant and is afforded all the rights and privileges thereof.

If I refuse to add the SO, then the likely scenario would be that I would (a) have an unauthorized occupant that I could not hold to the articles of the lease since they are not a party to it, or (b) the couple would move to a new place where they could both be on the lease (where, presumably, the next landlord would encounter my current situation).

My questions are twofold:

How do I resolve the current situation (and keep my original tenant) with as little hassle as possible?

Is there something I could do differently moving forward that could avoid this sort of thing next time?

Thanks in advance!

[Lynn McGeein]

Many states have laws regarding tenants and domestic violence, like a right of victim to terminate early or landlord has no right to terminate, right to have locks changed, etc.  So read up on your state landlord/tenant laws first to make sure you don't violate them accidentally