Tenants breaking leases due to pandemic

[Seth Larson]

So Ive had my first Covid-19 related event happen, One of my tenants had her hours cut at work and had her roomate loose her job so she cannot make rent anymore. She needs to break the lease and move back in with parents. She qualified well and passed a credit check no problem, signed a 16month lease as well. Im a new landlord (three years, three units total). 

finding the balance between "you signed a lease so pay up" and "its ok go ahead and move and il relist it" is a bit of a challenge, especially in these times.

im thinking of offering maybe a 40% discount for a couple months and seeing what happens with all of this. I dont really like the idea of trying to get a decent tenant at the moment. luckily this property (duplex) will still cashflow at 40% rent reduction so its better than nothing.

thanks for any advice.

[Alex Kreeger]

@Seth Larson your tenant has said they can’t pay. They are asking you release them. If you do not, and they can’t pay, they won’t. And in the current Tate of affairs, landlords can’t do anything.

Therefore, you will have a non paying, frustrated tenant caged in. They start to let your property go, while not paying, while you can’t evict.

And no amount of “screening” can change that.