Sketchy lease issue I just ran into

[Dan Swanson]

Summary...

I have tenants (good credit and have been easy to work with) that have been living in one of my properties for 2 years as of June. Prior to the recent lease end, I contacted the tenant to work on the renewal, and at that time I asked if they wanted to renew for another year and told them I was going to increase the rent from $1275 to $1300. The e-mail response from the tenant was simply "We would like to renew the lease." So I replied and said we would be sending them a new contract to sign via mail. After requesting the documents to be returned a couple of times, I got no response.

Fast forward to Monday of this week, and the tenant calls me to give me 30 day notice that they want to move out, however, the tenant says his brother's family wants to move in at that time. I was out of town at the time, had a bad phone connection, and told him that I would contact him later in the week to determine next steps.

Since the other family members moving in would potentially keep the place occupied longer, my initial thought is to consider the proposal. Of course credit-worthiness is a concern that must be addressed.

So I am offering this:

- if the other family members pass the tenant screening, I will allow them to end their lease and I will set up the new one

- if the other family does not pass the screening, I will ask the current tenants to either complete their 1 year lease or remit payment retroactively at a month to month rate of perhaps $200 on top of their regular payments.

Thoughts? Thank you!!

[Elizabeth Colegrove]

Personally I wouldn't offer any of that. After having two people break leases this summer alone. I charge everyone a 2 month break notice fee along with 60 days notice. This is in my leases. During the 60 days per my lease I am allowed to show the house as long as i give my tenants 24 hours notice.

The first time I was accomondating and they left the house a month. The deal was they leave the house in great shape as they were only there 8 months. Yes I took the mess out of their security deposit but it was a hassle. The second breka lease. i charged them. This went better and honestly I felt like people breaking leases should have a consequence.