Tenant turnover process

[Bin Chen]

Hi all,

I have been a landlord for several years but I always have a hard time when it comes to tenants moving out and new tenants moving in. It always seems to be a huge ordeal every time. So I am going to describe the scenario and if anyone can give me some solutions that would be amazing. Thank you in advance.

When the tenant moves in I ask for the first months rent and 1 month for deposit.

The tenant is moving out at the end of the lease so during the last month they tell me they want me to keep the deposit for the last month and refuse to pay even after I tell them that is not the purpose of the deposit.

What do I even do in this situation? They are planning to leave already so is there really a point in starting the eviction process? (takes several months in NYC)

The tenants lease ends 5/31 but the morning of 6/1 they are still in there clearing out their stuff. I come take a look and there is still garbage everywhere once they leave. At this point if I had their deposit I would hire a cleaner and charge that to their deposit but I don't have it anymore so there is nothing I can do. The new tenant is suppose to move in 6/1 but the apartment is a mess. Now I have to hire a cleaner and make repairs but no time to do so. In this situation I would just work something out with the new tenant and give them a partial refund for the first month and make the repairs/clean today. This does not sit well with me though is there a better way to handle this situation? 

Lets say if the tenants moved out 5/31. How do you guys handle the repairs/painting/cleaning? Do you have a crew do it overnight so its ready in the morning for the new tenants?  

[Chris Wange]

What does it say in your lease?  It should say explicitly that the security deposit is not to be used in lieu of rent.  In such a case you should have sent a pay or quit notice when rent was late (and started charging late fees) and started the eviction process as soon as your state law allows.  Again, these steps should all be spelled out in the lease.  Hopefully this would make a decent tenant change their mind, but perhaps your tenant is not this type of person.

Obviously that isn't much help in this particular situation, but it may help in the future since you mentioned you always have a hard time when your tenants move out.  Regarding move out repairs, I also have it spelled out in the lease that the move out is at 12pm on the last day, and the move in is at 12pm on the first day.  I'm hoping that this will be enough time to schedule anything needed, but I've also been fortunate so far in not needing all that much.

Good luck.