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!

[Ben Elliott]

Quick update on my situation - I sent a letter to the hubby in jail offering him the option sign the tenant-to-landlord early release as well as giving the 28 day notice landlord-to-tenant, and luckily he signed the early release.  So I have control of my apartment and am working on turning it over.

Downside is that the previous owner was not very good at keep up their property, and there's enough tenant damage that the security deposit is only going to cover about 1/3 of the repair costs.  BUT, I have the apartment back and am moving forward.

Thanks to everyone for the input!