Tenants want out 1 month early

[Dan Martz]

I'll try to make this short but include all pertinent information:

Tenants want out of their lease 1 month early (lease ends end of June, they want out end of May). They offered 1/2 of security deposit (equal to 1/2 month's rent). I told them I would call them tomorrow to tell them what I'm thinking.

What would you do, would you say "you signed the lease, you're responsible for the whole thing" or "I'll take the full month's security deposit in place as long as the place is in great condition minus normal wear and tear" or "I'll let you out with the caveat that I market it right now and keep the portion of your deposit that covers the unit until it is re-rented, but if it doesn't re-rent for June at all you are still responsible for the remainder"?

Thanks all!

[Ryan Logsdon]

Dan,

It's free money. The tenants will pay for 11.5 months in an 11 month period and, as you mentioned, they'll be highly motivated to keep the place in good condition.

With 6 weeks of lead time, that should alleviate any stress of needing to screen new tenants. And with the current tenants paying longer than their stay, it decreases your vacancy rate (when does that ever happen?)! There's really no downside to this give and take. You'll come out as the good guy and depending on how quickly you can place a new tenant, you have a good chance of coming out with higher cashflow.