Tenant wants out of recent lease

[Maurice J.]

Looking for some advice

Recently leased home to 3 roommates and one roommate asked to be removed from lease 2 hours after signing.

I declined to release or redo the lease because the two remaining roommates asked me not to.

Was that the right decision ?

[Nathan Gesner]

Sort of.

I have a higher standard when renting to three or more unrelated people. They must each make 2x the rent and have a credit score over 650. Why? Because someone will eventually want to leave and the remaining two must be able to afford the rent.

I have the departing tenant fill out a form saying when they will leave. My form says they give up all rights and responsibilities to the rental AND that they give up any rights to the deposit. If they are owed a portion of the deposit, they work that out with the remaining tenants. The remaining tenants must also sign off on this form saying they understand they are responsible for the rent and any damages/cleaning at the time of departure.

Because they are making extra work for me, I charge them to complete this process.