Renter stiffed me - next steps?

[Melissa Silk]

I have a small condo that I short-term rent in the summer months. This is my first winter as the owner, so I decided to try and get someone in during the off season. Being only 20 minutes from Portland, ME and Maine Medical Center, I was able to find a traveling CNA. He signed a lease for Nov 1 - Feb 4. He paid first months rent ($1650), and a security deposit of $1000, and moved in November 1st. Fast forward to November 30th, I get a text at 4am saying he had a family emergency and was going back to TX. I texted him to remind him of the rent due Dec 1st, and have heard nothing. What would you do? Is it worth it to try to collect? Or should I just let it go?

[Jon Martin]

If they are out of the house I would count my blessings and move on. Could be worse, and it sounds like you are within your rights to pocket the security deposit. 

Wouldn't hurt to attempt to collect, even if it's just to establish fault on paper in case they try to come back at you. Realistically it sounds like a lot of time and bandwidth would be devoted to a low likelihood of being made whole. 

[Theresa Harris]

If they are out and you have it in writing, get the place rented.  Take photos to show move out condition and if the cleaning and lost rent total more than the deposit, send him the invoice saying you're keeping the deposit and he owes you $x.  You will never see that money, but at least you can keep the deposit.

[Melissa Silk]

Fortunately he did leave the place clean. I guess I’ll just cut my losses and move on. Thanks for your responses, I appreciate the insight.

[Alecia Loveless]

@Melissa Silk I’m about two hours away in NH and just got over 100 responses to an ad for an apartment I posted for less than 24 hours. I suspect if you get your ad reposted you may have no problem getting the unit rented again quickly. It’s a great area.

Be sure to send the old tenant a letter detailing what charges you had cleaning the unit and getting it ready to rent and for lost rent until you get it rented. That way they can’t come back on you for the security deposit. Be sure to follow Maine’s law on this.

Sorry this happened to you. Best of luck.

[John Underwood]

Quote from @Theresa Harris:

If they are out and you have it in writing, get the place rented.  Take photos to show move out condition and if the cleaning and lost rent total more than the deposit, send him the invoice saying you're keeping the deposit and he owes you $x.  You will never see that money, but at least you can keep the deposit.

I agree with this.
Make sure you follow your local law on how to handle the security deposit.

[Nathan M kiefer]

definitely, get a forwarding address at all costs and outline in detail how he left it and what he owes so you have that paper trail(certified) and move on as others have stated. 

[Sarah Kensinger]

As everyone else has been saying, follow the local landlord laws and relist the property again. Maybe he did have a family emergency or some other reason for why he needed to leave. There's no telling, but at least your property was left in good condition. 

[Richard Elvin]

It would appear, not a lawyer and not legal advise, that you need to provide a written statement of what the security deposit was applied to.
"The written statement itemizing the reasons for the retention of any portion of the security deposit must be accompanied by a full payment of the difference between the security deposit and the amount retained. Reasons for which a landlord may retain the security deposit or a portion of the security deposit include, but are not limited to, covering the costs of storing and disposing of unclaimed property, nonpayment of rent and nonpayment of utility charges that the tenant was required to pay directly to the landlord. The landlord is deemed to have complied with this section by mailing the statement and any payment required to the last known address of the tenant." ME Title 14 Ch 710 §6033 (2) (I really don't know how to quote legal text)

https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6033.htm...

I would familiarize myself with all of Title 14, Chapters 710 and 710-A.

Again, not a lawyer, just free advise so take it for what you paid for it: Personally, I would take them at their word on a family emergency and mail them the security deposit. 
The other option that I see is itemizing what they owe for breaking the lease, any damages, cleaning, marketing, etc, and take that to small claims to obtain a judgment.

I've been to small claims court, it's inexpensive but will take a day of your time, if you are concise on why you are there and what legal remedy you seek, you will likely prevail.

Again, if it were me and they left the house clean and in good shape, I would send them the deposit and move on with my life. (Treat others the way I would want to be treated.)

[Andrew Steffens]

Unfortunately this is part of the LL game.  It happens.  Rent is paid in advance so technically he did not stiff you, just broke his lease.  Definitely check with your local laws but in FL I would just have to deliver a notice of intention of keeping security deposit for breaking the lease.  Hopefully the lease outlines the penalties.

[Michael Baum]

Everyone said it best @Melissa Silk. Good luck on getting it re-rented!

[Melissa Silk]

Thank you for the advice everybody. I appreciate you all taking the time to respond. I've got it re-listed on FF, so fingers crossed!