One of the tenants put in jail

[Ben Elliott]

Hello everyone!  Looking for advice from someone with landlording experience in Wisconsin...

I FINALLY got my 1st 2 duplexes, each were 1/2 occupied with long term tenants.  As my luck would have it, a month after closing on one of them, the husband & wife had an "event" that landed the Mr. in jail.  She let me know, said she's moving out, and has no real idea what's going to happen to her husband.  At least I got a couple months rent out of it (she/they were even good about paying early).

They've kept up the place decently for a "C" property, and I don't want to be a stickler on lease terms and end up getting caught up in whatever they have going on.  She needs to get out and away, he's locked up.  She has moved most of everything out already, started canceling utilities and such.

My questions are - Can she break the lease on behalf of both of them?  Is he somehow protected from losing the place while he's in in jail?  Do I need both of them to say they want to terminate the lease?  Can I give them/him notice and take control of it again since it's empty and they won't be paying?  It's a month-to-month lease.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Chinmay J.]

@Ben Elliott - As a landlord, I had do deal with similar issue a while ago. I will give you Virginia skinny on this. You need to check the laws in your state. But in VA, if there is a domestic violence, and party A is victim of it, and party A gets protective order signed by a judge against party B, then party A can be relieved from the burden of the lease agreement, and party B will be solely responsible for it - assuming both parties were on the lease agreement.

So bottom line.. You need to check with the local laws.  

If I were you, I would get in touch with husband and try and see if he wants to continue renting. Who knows.. He might have a friend of family member who wants to jump him and help him out. If he wants to break the lease as well, you can always sue him in civil court and get some compensation. 

If I were you, I would forget the whole thing of suing them and all, and start marketing the property to new tenants. Make sure you terminate the lease with proper paperwork. Even if he is in jail, he can still get mail. 

Vacancy is more expensive in landlording, and going after deadbeats is usually a fool's errand.. Good luck, and welcome to being a landlord.