When Tenants Don't Talk to Each Other

Question

Hi - I'm new to the site and have a real problem.  I have a 3BR rental that I have had 3 tenants in for the past year.  They have taken great care of the place and paid their rent on time.  About a month ago, I received a text from one of them asking if they could move out about a month and a half before their lease expires.

I generally like to help my tenants when they have been good to me, so I told her I would let them out of their lease as long as I had it rented out to other tenants. She said that would be great.  I put the property on the market and showed it many times with the tenant who texted me in the property watching me do it.

After a lot of work, I rented it out to some new tenants and even got the move-in date to coincide with the move-out date that the tenant asked for.  When I talked to the tenant who wanted to vacate, she said that date would be 'perfect'.

Then after I signed a lease with the new tenants, one of the original tenants emailed me and said that she doesn't know what her roommate is talking about and that she will be staying until the lease expires.  I explained to her that there is one lease on the property and so one notice of intent to vacate is sufficient.  If there had been three separate leases, there would be three notices, but there weren't.  She told me she was not moving after I signed the lease with the new tenant.

I talked to my new tenants (who are somewhat freaked out now) and they can't move their move-in date back.

The tenant who wants to stay has stated they will take me to court over this.  I called and texted the original tenant and she sent me an email stating it was her fault and a big misunderstanding.  But the tenant who wants to stay says I should have asked each of them individually.

I want to do the right thing here, but can anyone give me some advice?  I would really not want to incur all the court costs and resolve this in a manner that works for everyone, or as close as I can get.

From now on I will check with everyone involved and have a form that all tenants in the unit need to sign, but that won't help me now.  Thanks for any help.

Steve Babiak · Answer

I'd expect divorcing couples to also not be on speaking terms!  So it can happen in any situation.

I have to say that whenever a roommate wants to move, I require them to send a written notice to their other roommates too - just so that everybody is on the same page.  And I send a written acknowledgment to all of them explaining my understanding of what is happening.  Then we can negotiate whether the other roommates stay, and under what conditions, and whether the moving roommate will be released from the lease obligations.  When a husband and wife both sign the move-out notice to you, of course you know they are both going, so your effort isn't as extreme to do this CYA stuff.

Ann Bellamy · Answer

Steve Babiak, good solution.  I've never run into the not-talking-to-each-other scenario, thankfully.

Steve Babiak · Answer

More "ounce of prevention" stuff; this is a lease clause lifted from a lease available for free download online:

Steve Babiak · Answer

One real situation I had similar to this one.  Married couple sharing rental with a sibling of one.  Married couple started going through divorce, one wants to move; the other two want to stay.  I did exactly as I stated in the post above.

Unfortunately, that doesn't solve the dilemma of the OP, since the OP ahead of time had not known better to do as I have advised here.  My only suggestion for the OP is to get the other roommates out somehow, and/or try to have the new tenant-to-be get into some temporary housing.  Offer to pay moving expenses if necessary.  From the sound of the OP, there is really only one month of temporary housing needed, so you might have to contribute to that (I'd suggest you try to work it to be something like the difference between rent you would have received and the actual cost of the temporary housing).  However it goes, it's not a good situation, so that's why the "ounce of prevention" is more of what I have been posting here.

Lynn McGeein · Answer

I'm no lawyer, so not sure how it would work, but have you thought about giving notice to the other 2, whatever your lease says, 30 or 60 days, if you have a clause in there about automatic revert to month-to-month if no one gives notice?  Might be a smart move just in case your new tenants can extend their old move-out date at their current place after all.  Otherwise, you could have the new guys agree to a delay just to find out your old tenants are allowed an additional 30 days to move as no notice was given.  Sounds like you are in a real pickle, and hope you find a solution that works for all.

Ann Bellamy · Answer

Sam Adams,  Just my opinion, and not a legal one, but the tenant who wants to stay is right.   I can see how this could have happened, are you renting to three unrelated parties?

I would first check with an attorney who works in landlord/tenant law in your state.  Show him your leases and comunications and figure out where your biggest exposure is, so that you know for sure just how shaky your ground is when you go to negotiate.

Then I would try to negotiate with both.  You may end up paying for temporary housing for your new tenants, but since it's only a month and a half, the hit is not going to be too bad.  At the end of the day, the tenants in possession have the stronger position.  Your attorney may tell you that your obligation to the new tenants is simply to return their deposit, but I'd first check with the attorney to be sure of where you stand.

Karen Margrave · Answer

The tenants signed a lease for a specified time period and all of you are obligated to that contract. If the one tenant wants to move before the period of time is over, she can sublease her share if that's allowed in the lease or continue paying you for the term of the lease. The other two tenants shouldn't be expected to move out just because there's problems for one of the tenants. You might ask if they would be agreeable to allowing the other room to be rented, with them having approval over new tenant, if there's not a clause for sub leasing.

When Tenants Don't Talk to Each Other

Most Popular Reply