Tenants Breaking Rental Leases

[Gehmelle Johnson]

Hi Bigger Pockets, Fam! I have been a landlord for over 9 years, I own a multi-unit (4) in the District of Columbia and condo in Maryland, both are fairly easy to rent however, within these years of renting, I have had 2-3 tenants break their lease due to life changes, moving in with boyfriend, roommates part separate ways, etc. Each event, I am caught off guard because, I am not use to this type of tenant. In DC, the district is very tenant friendly, so I want to be very careful, especially as I am managing my own property versus in the past I had my management company deal with it. We re-newed the lease, with a October 2019, expiration therefore, she was not month to month. Reading the dc housing regulations, which are ambiguous-and within my lease agreement there is minor verbiage explaining use of security deposit for breach of contract. However, I do not know if that would hold up in court if it ever got the point. Do I keep the security deposit, due to the breach of the lease, it is a separate issue but, I know landlords do so in this situation. Insight please..