Tenants Vacated Before Term Ended

[Juan Ayala]

BP Fam,

I have some tenants who lets just say i am glad the lease has finally come to an end. Well not quite yet, they gave me an appropriate timed 60 day notice that they were not going to renew the lease. But 30 days before the lease ended, they decided to take it upon themselves and vacate the property. I had a neighbor complain on Christmas Eve that they heard water running so i sent someone into to the property immediately since these tenants would not respond to my urgent message. That is when we found out that they had moved out. They left some items in the property and we had to change the lock. They finally responded to my message and told me they planned on coming back to finish cleaning but at the same time they left because they were sick and tired of the rat issue. They've previously complained about it twice and i sent someone in immediately to take action and close up and clean up the areas we believed they were entering through. I have proof and am not concerned if they try to hold that against me because i took action immediately after notification. They told me they could not handle the rats anymore and decided to leave. Funny thing is we have tenants downstairs from them and they said its not that bad. I've had multiple other issues with these tenants but this was the final straw. Now its a few days before new years and i am stuck with an empty property during the holidays working to refill it. What should i do as far as the issue with the previous tenants who just left? This property is in Los Angeles, CA and not in a rent controlled area.  What love to hear what you guys think? Happy new years BP FAM!

[Marcia Maynard]

Thank your lucky stars!  Sounds like it wasn't working out for either of you. Time to move forward.

1.  Complete the documentation necessary to show the tenant's intent to return possession of the unit to you as of a specific date. Make sure the date they returned possession of the unit back to you was prior to the date you changed the locks. You're on thin ice if you changed the locks prior to receiving proof by word or deed that they were vacating early. If you didn't, then it would have been necessary to follow abandonment procedures before you could reclaim your property and rekey the unit.

2.  Address the pest issue. Make ready the unit for your next tenant.

3.  The terms of your lease contract and the landlord-tenant law for your jurisdiction will determine what you can do to settle the tenant's account. Be reasonable. You locked them out in December, so don't charge them for January or you may unleash a worse wrath.

4.  Determine the billable items for the final accounting on the return (or retention of their security deposit.)

• Was their rent paid through December? 
• How about utilities? 
• Any missing items?
• Any damages? 
• Cost of moving & storage of the property they left behind? (What did you do with their belongings?)
• Cost of extra cleaning required to get the unit ready to rent?

Good luck!