30 day notice for noise, tenant moved, now what?

Question

Dan O'Neill · Answer

Account Closed  Thanks for the tips on documenting that they've actually moved out.  There is truly nothing left of their property in the unit.  I will return only a portion of the sec. dep. because there is some damage that will get deducted.  I was initially thinking I'd have to use some the deposit to clean if they didn't leave it like they got it but aside from the damage they cleaned it pretty well.

Another question in this case come to mind - I gave them the 30-days later in March so that the 30 days is up on Apr. 22.  They were in the unit for 2 weeks of April but paid no rent for April.  I am under the impression that had they paid Apr. rent and I accepted it, it would void the 30-day notice.  Is this correct?  When part of a 30-day period runs into the following month, can rent still be collected for that portion of the following month (or in this case, deducted from the security deposit)?

All in all, I am just glad they left without much fuss and cleaned.  They could have dragged it on if they knew how and wanted to.

Account Closed · Answer

Hello Dan:

Your question is:  That you gave them a 30-day notice in March and it was up April 22nd.

Was this a 30 Day Notice to Quit for Non-Payment of Rent, or a Termination of Tenancy? A big difference.

Michigan Law states that we must give a full 30 day notice to Quit.

You say you gave them a notice late in March.  The question is:  When was their rent due?  Was it due March 22nd, therefore they had until April 22nd?

If that is true, by law, you would need to have sent them a 30-day notice to Quit on March 21st in order to make it a full one month notice.  The same thing if you were terminating this tenant.  You would have to give same notice but on a different form.

it also depends on how you gave them the notice.  Did you hand deliver it?  Did you mail it?  We need to allow one full day of it being hand-delivered in order to start counting the 30 days.  Two Full days for mailing to allow a full 30 day Notice.

Let's say, you did everything right and you sent them the notice on March 21st and their last day was to be April 22nd. And they never paid their rent for March 22 through April 22nd, the normal monthly rent.  (This is why having every tenant's rent due on the 1st of the month is crucial.  Too complicated having different due date for various tenants.  You will be in court almost every day if you have a lot of tenant who don't pay).

A typical 7 Day Notice to Quit is this.

Rental Due Date 1st of every month.

On the very first day rent is late, a Notice to Quit should be sent.  This means on the 2nd of the month, since they have until 11:59 pm on the 1st to pay that rent.

On the 2nd of the month you mail the Notice to Quit.  You cannot count the 2nd as the first day of mailing, you must allow two full days for mailing so you count the 3rd and the 4th.

Now you start counting 7 full days, and that brings us to the 11th of the month.

You cannot file the 7 Day Notice to Quit in a court of law until the 12th, as you need to allow 7 full days and the 11th is the last of the 7 full days.

If a tenant pays the rent during time frame of the Notice to Quit, then you must accept it.  If they try to make a partial payment, you do not have to accept.

If you meant to say you gave them a Termination of Tenancy, which requires a 30 Day Notice of Termination of Tenancy, then the same timeline would apply as well.  The Full day thing.

If they moved and didn't pay their rent you can deduct it from their Security Deposit.  But Itemize it and send them the balance due to them if applicable to their last known address.

I hope I have answered your questions and helped you understand the deep details of the timeline that involves the 7 Day Notice to Quit and the 30 Day Notice of Termination of Tenancy.  Two different forms, but the same timeline.

Nancy Neville

Account Closed · Answer

Actually, you never want to change the locks until you are 100% sure the tenant has left.

You say he cleaned it well enough to receive a portion of his security deposit back? Just because someone is in jail doesn't mean you get to keep the Security Deposit.  And if they are not getting back 100% of the security Deposit then you need to itemize the deductions and submit it to them in writing within the time frame of your State Laws.

As mentioned above, keys should have been returned, but many times tenants do not leave the keys.  if their belongings are gone from the property, and the unit is cleaned, then most likely they have left.  At that time you can change the locks.  But first, you need to do the following.

Send them an itemized letter, with a check for the portion of the money you are returning to them,  to their last known address.  Which is actually the rental unit that belongs to you.

As mentioned above as well, if your letter to them is just sitting in their mailbox and nobody picks it up, then take it and save it, because when he gets out of jail, you are going to be the first person he wants to see.

Take pictures of the rental unit showing that all his things are gone and the unit cleaned.  It helps to buy a newspaper with the current date on it so that you can take photo's of the unit with the Newspaper proving the date of when you took the photo's.  Place the Newspaper in an area of the apartment that will clearly prove that this is the rental unit and this is how it looked on the day you took the photos.

Now you can change the locks, advertise and rent it out.

But I do have to emphasize that the unit must not have anything that can be construed as his or her property. You can tell what is garbage, but when it comes to furniture, someone else's junk is someone else's treasure.  If whatever is left behind looks broken, the pictures you take will prove that it was just junk left behind.  If it's totally cleaned out, then it's a given he or she has really moved out.

Nancy Neville

FootNote:  Dan you must have been posting as I have been writing.  :)

Wendy Patton · Answer

You should send the security deposit refund notice (not sure exact name but that is really close) along with their refund to their last known address - which might be the property address - if it gets forwarded great - if it doesn't you can grab it from that property and keep it until you hear from him - it can be used to prove you did mail it it in time.   They are suppose to notify you of their forwarding address, however no matter what that money is still theirs.   You just need to do your part in the time frame required.

Jonathan Holmes · Answer

In some states it is acceptable to mail it to there last known address. (your unit) If they went to the post office and filled out a change of address form then the post office will forward it to where their new address is. They probably did not do this. If the letter comes to your unit then you keep it sealed in your records in case they ever try to claim you made no attempt to send it. If you are still with in the thirty day time frame I would wait it out leave a voicemail on their cell etc. Once the thirty days is up change the locks.

Jim S. · Answer

Did they turn in they're keys? If not I wouldn't give any refund until they do and then change the locks. If they left a forwarding add. I'd mail it.