Tenants Left 2 Months Early - Georgia

[Brandon Kraemer]

I've been renting my house to a friend and his wife for the last 2 years.  That was a mistake.  They were always late, had dogs, chickens, painted rooms absurd colors, and got paint everywhere.  About 2 months ago I sent a certified letter stating that we would nto be renewing a lease and I listed the reasons.  They left at the beginning of September.  Their lease was up October 31st.  They only gave a week notice that they were leaving.  I originally told them I would give them $350 for painting the shutters and painting the inside of the house, but after seeing the condition of the house I told them I was no longer going to offer that.  They owe me $1800 in rent.  My friend actually asked me when I was gonna give them $500 for moving out early.  They also never returned me the keys and garage door remotes.

My question here is what should I do?  I'm owed $1800 for rent, minus their $450 deposit and $150 they paid toward a refrigerator, but never finished paying on.  I'm also gonna have about $600 in paint to repair their mess ups, not including carpet cleaning.  Changing the locks was $70 and both garage door remotes were $40 total.  Should I file a police report for the keys, remotes, and paint damage?  Also, do I file an eviction to sue them or do I have to go to small claims court?  I do not know what their new address is.  Is there a way I can get their new address?

Thank you for your help.

[Jon Holdman]

My lease has an "improper termination" clause with a cash penalty that applies if proper notice is not given.  That would apply in this case.  So they would owe me this fee.  Do you have such a fee?   Or anything that says they get $500 if they move out early?

If you told them you would pay them for doing work (painting shutters), and they are painted, I would give them the credit for that.  I would also itemize all the charges to get the house back in rentable condition.  Send them a letter outlining all charges (painting, missing remotes) back rent. Deduct their security deposit from the amount owed.  Changing locks is your expense.  You probably cannot charge them for that.  You may or may not be able to charge for carpet cleaning.  Around here, if the carpets are more than three years old, you can't charge anything for them.  Even the IRS says flooring in rentals only lasts five years.  Send them a letter requesting payment for the excess.  If you don't have a current address, send it to their last known address and mark it "Address service requested".  If it's forwarded you will (or should) get a card from the post office with their new address.  If not, the letter should come back.  Put it, unopened, into your file.

In a similar situation (tenants bugged out, did not hand over keys), I was advised by my attorney to enter the property with another person and video the property.  If it was obvious they were gone (no clothes, no food, just trash left behind),  go ahead with cleaning it up and getting it ready to rent.  If not, do an eviction.

If you do not have a landlord/tenant attorney, you should get one.