Tenant terminating lease early Need advice in NH!

[Jeremy G.]

Hello BP!

I purchased a 3 unit multifamily property in august of this year, it was occupied by 2 tenants and I moved into the 3rd unit, when signing new leases for the existing tenants one of them gave me notice to terminate because he bought a house, good for him! took me a couple weeks to screen and find a new tenant, but I found one with a great co-signer who agreed to pay for all rent and any damages that may occur, AWESOME! signed a month to month lease with the possibility of going long term, this was on the 10th of October. the father paid 996 security deposit, 996 first months rent for November and also paid daily rent from october 10th to the end of october. so overall it was approximately $2500 for his daughter to move in. 

Since the first day she was occupying the unit, its sounded like her children are smashing the floor with a sledge hammer, even at midnight on school nights while my child is sleeping(they live right above me) I have been extremely reasonable and respectful and have only texted her 3 times since october 10th about the noise because it was waking my child up on school nights. come November 3rd I receive a text saying hey we are starting to move out today(the 3rd) and will be out by the end of the week, I said "okay well proper notice would have been appreciated but great! the sooner the better!" "let me know what date you will be out so we can do a walk through and i can get the security deposit back to your father" she and her father both texted me saying they are paid through the end of November and that they expect a refund for the unused rent for November..

My question is, am I obligated to refund them for the unused portion of rent for november? even though they are voluntarily terminating the lease without proper notice? 

Any helps or advice is greatly appreciated!

Thanks 

Jeremy

[Nathan Gesner]

@Jeremy G. Let me answer your question first and then give you some general advice.

They are on a month-to-month lease. I'm not an attorney but I'm pretty sure NH requires the tenant to provide 30 days notice of termination. If she notified you on November 3rd, then they are obligated to pay through December 2nd.

Here are my recommendations.

1. You made a mistake by telling her you would refund the deposit to her Dad. You don't even know the condition of the unit so how do you know there will be a refund? Your response should be generic without promising - or even alluding to - a refund of any sort:

Dont make promises. Don't even bother telling them what the law says or that they are violating their lease. Just accept the notice and wait.

2. You offered to do the move-out inspection with the tenant. This is a mistake because tenants will try to distract you from finding things or they will argue with you about responsibility. Some states require the Landlord to do a move-out inspection with the tenant but I don't believe New Hampshire is one of them. If the tenant insists on being present, do it but make it clear that you won't determine any charges until you have the chance to inspect on your own. Do not make any promises or agreements about a refund. Tell her your policy is to conduct the final inspection on your own without distractions and that you'll complete the final inspection on your own. Document everything with photographs and a written list. Hold her accountable for anything that is not "ordinary" wear-and-tear.

3. Once she is out, you are under no obligation to respond to every call, email, or text or explain your process. Send her one message that says something like, "You were on a month-to-month lease and NH law requires you to provide 30 days notice. Your notice was received on November 3rd so you are responsible for rent and utilities through December 2nd. If I find a replacement tenant before that, you will be released from your obligations once the new tenant takes responsibility. I will send any remaining funds to the forwarding address provided." You may even quote the lease or the state law so they know it's legit. There's no need to respond to repeated questions or threats of suing because that only muddies the water.

4. Co-signers are not a slam dunk. There's a high likelihood that she's irresponsible which is why she's unmarried with children and having Daddy pay the rent. She is unlikely to care for the rental the way a self-sufficient person would. And when she causes $3,000 worth of damages, there's a very good chance Daddy won't want to pay the bill and you'll have a hard time collecting. If you allow co-signers, you need to know how to qualify them and how to go after them when bills are unpaid.

Good luck.