Tennant divorce, wants out of lease

[Len Roche]

Hello!

Long term tennants are going through a separation (4yrs). The wife wants to move out with the children and have her name of the lease. There has been a lot of fighting and she wants to move out at the end of this month. I have contacted my lawyer to help with this situation and what my options are. Should hear back from him soon.

Has anyone experienced this before and what did you do? What was the outcome? 

What are the pittfalls that I should avoid?

I am concerned about rent and utilities not being paid due to legal battles. I am also concerned about fights over security deposits and any damages that may come out of it. 

Thanks for the advice.

Len Roche

[Linda S.]

@Len Roche,

The question you have to ask yourself-- do you want to get in a big legal battle?   

Personally, I view a divorce as a giant financial storm, and ya know what.. you probably have some late rents coming your way  (or missed payments) if they have to hire lawyers, not to mention whoever controls the $ will be a jerk to the other.   Lawyers fees, and then child support payments will be ranked higher than you in the future..   Do you really want to pay thousands to a lawyer to just listen to your problems?

If I were you, I'd offer them to get out of the lease free of charge, as long as they allow you to do showings and get someone new in there.    You'll have minimum turnover, and IMO doing a really good thing for yourself and them.      Your goal as a landlord is to have it rented, so why waste your money on a lawyer, focus on getting it rented and putting a more stable situation in there.

One of my favorite quotes.. "Do you want to be right, or do you want to be rich?"