Tenant Leaves, Breaks Lease| Take back property

[Luke H.]

Hello all,

A tenant didn't pay rent, stopped answering all contact, and we are in month 5 of the 12 month lease.  I went to place the 3 day pay rent/vacate letter on the door and I could see through the windows that the house was emptied out. No furniture or signs of it being lived in.

The back door was unlocked and I walked into the house and the place is empty.  They only left trash everywhere. 

What should my next move be?

1) Take back over the property now, change locks, get it rent ready?
2) Move forward with the formal eviction process, wait for a judgement, then take back over?
3) Take back over the pproperty and continue with the eviction process?

Side note: I'm thinking of adding a 'end lease early clause', letting renters pay 2 months to get out of the lease early. Thoughts on this?

All ideas, suggestions, comments are welcomed.
Thanks

[Kim Meredith Hampton]

@Luke H. first look at the landlord tenant laws in your state as to how to claim abandoned property, usually no contact for two weeks, utilities shut offers... if you can claim that, then most likely  can take back without a formal eviction, but make sure you follow what the law states to avoid any problems.