Tenant feels unsafe wit roommate, wants out of lease

[Anand Shelat]

Hello to this community! First time caller, long time listener. 

I’m relatively new to this real estate investment journey. One of my properties seems to now have an issue. 

I have a 4 bedroom 3 bath home in an upcoming area of Atlanta. I rent the four rooms to 4 different individuals. The roommates found one another, I did not place them together. 3 female and 1 male roommate. 

One of the female roommates called and told me that she feels unsafe in the home due to the male roommate having substance abuse issues. She wanted to be released from the lease. I asked her to elaborate, but she said she wasn’t comfortable explaining the situation. The other two females have not had any issues with the male tenant that I have been made aware of. The male roommate has been living in the home for 2 years+ with all female roommates without issues. 

I told her I could not let her out of the lease as it was a signed obligation. The lease is written as such that the tenants cannot break the lease prior to the expiration of the lease. Moreover, the roommate found one another. I did not place them in the rooms or force them to live together. 

I provided the following options:

(1) find someone to sublease 

(2) have the other three roommates take over her financial obligation

(3) move out but she would still be responsible for the lease. 

She stated she wanted to take legal actions and stated that perhaps a temporary restraining order would help her out of her obligation. I told her I could not provide legal advice. 

What’s the best course of action here? I appreciate the help

[Theresa Harris]

If she has a restraining order or can get one, I'd let her out of the lease.  If she truly feels unsafe, there are laws in many places that protect her and will allow her to get out of the lease without any penalty.