Tenant Wanting To Break Lease Early...

[Robert Smith]

Our tenants (who have rented from us for about 1 year and 5 months) are having to terminate the lease early due to job loss. The husband was the primary bread winner and lost his COO job. He says he found a new one near Nashville and will be out of the house at the end of this month. Contract supposed to run until end of Sept. He's willing to try to help find new tenants but we are thinking we may just move back into that house and rent out the one we are in now. That being said...we'd like to ask for 2 months rent and keep the deposit. Is that a douche bag move considering the guy lost his job? Or...how would you typically handle this? Looking for advise from the experienced landlords.

[Bill F.]

@Robert Smith

Step one: read your state's Landlord laws with regards to what you can and can't do with security deposits. Some states are very strict that they must be used to repair damage above and beyond normal wear and tear. If ends up in court and you violated the law, you will lose, big time. 

As for breaking the lease, that's a hard nut to crack. First place to look is what state law says and then what your lease says. On one hand the tenant has a contract to fulfill. On the other, you can't bleed a stone.  If he lost his job, money is tight, what are you going to do if he says 'I don't have two months rent?' 

Maybe try and strike a non monetary deal. Something like you release him from the lease if he shows the unit and cleans it to a move in move in ready state.