Tenant wants to discontinue their lease with 7 months left

[Ryan Rea]

Hey everyone,

I was hoping to get some guidance here. I have a tenant that is about 5 months into a 12 month lease. She just requested that we cancel her lease, because she had a divorce finalized and now she says that she cant afford the monthly rent. I hate to be a stickler, but I passed up on several other qualified applicants to let her live in one of our units.

With the CT winter approaching, I know an eviction would take months. Although I sympathize with her situation, I'm not sure of the best course of action. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

[JD Martin]

For tenants that want out early we offer two choices:

1. Early termination. Tenant pays equivalent to two month's rent (this assumes they have a long way to go on their lease, not just a month or so) and walks away scot-free. This usually means that, assuming they haven't done any damage, they have to come up with one month since they've already paid the deposit. Then they get to get utilities out of their name, no more lawn care, etc. A clean break. Every tenant that we ever had that wanted to break early took this route. There's some risk to us if we don't get it re-rented within a month but the risk is small and overall it's fair to everyone, as it helps compensate the business owner for the cost of unnecessary turnover. 

2. They move out as soon as possible, we will get it back up for rent as quick as possible, they are responsible for rent payments, utilities & lawn care as provided by the lease until we get it re-rented. Could be cheaper for them if the timing or market is good or could be risky. 

In either case we are not going to accept a voluntary loss to our business. We are willing to compromise and try to find solutions for tenants but those solutions don't include accepting financial responsibility for the choices they make in their lives. You didn't tell them to get divorced; they could have waited until the lease was up. You want to be compassionate, but you can either run this like a business or you can be out of business.