Tenant breaking the lease, what did I do wrong?

[Fred Smith]

Our tenants recently told us that, due to personal stuff, they plan to "give 30 days notice"/break lease. I told them that we will take out of the deposit to cover any vacancy and she's been cooperative, trying to help find another tenant, etc so we're trying to keep it from becoming contentious. Hopefully we find another tenant quickly. 

What I'm wondering is if people have language in lease or otherwise spelling out what happens if lease is broken. My wife and I are now discussing how we probably should've had something like "if lease is broken, tenant automatically forfeits 1/2 deposit" or something like that. But then if the place is damaged in an amount more than 1/2 deposit, we don't really have recourse beyond it so I'm not sure. I believe, based on state law, we could demand they cover rent through the end of the lease (another 9 months) but my suspicion is that if they decide they're leaving, they're going to leave and the only leverage we really have is the deposit (one-month's rent). Also, I suspect that going to battle over keeping them in the lease would just cost more in legal fees than it would recover and would not improve the situation.

Would appreciate any suggestions on minimizing/eliminating breaking of lease in the future. Thanks.

[Mindy Jensen]

Hi @Fred Smith . 

I would recommend reading your state's landlord-tenant laws. Simply inserting language into your lease does not make it legal or enforceable. 

Most leases I've seen demand a two-month break-lease fee, but again this is state specific.