All Forum Posts by: Belinda Stoner

I have a tenant who signed a year lease. He’s breaking the lease after only 4 months after getting transferred. Louisiana law states that any tenant who breaks a lease and leaves early (except under some circumstances, and this isn’t one of them) must continue paying rent for the duration of the lease or until I find a new tenant, whichever happens first. This is reiterated in my lease, and my tenant says he understands. But now he’s asking when he’ll get his deposit back. I explained that landlords usually have 30 days from the time the lease ends to return any part of the deposit owed, but I’m not sure how that will work since he’s leaving early. Am I supposed to return his deposit money within 30 days of him leaving? Or can I hang onto it until (a) his lease officially ends; or (b) until I find a new tenant?  I’m worried that if I don’t find a tenant soon, he might pay his next month’s rent that’s due; and then, after I return his deposit, he’ll decide not to pay any more rent. And then I won’t have the deposit money, either! The NOLA rental market, especially for the more expensive neighborhoods like the one my rental is in, has been slow. Properties are sitting on the market for months. Not sure what steps I can take to mitigate my losses. Any suggestions?

Makes sense. Thanks so much for your reply.

I recently closed on a two-family in New Orleans. My daughter, who attends school there, will live in one side, and I plan to use the other side as a STR. The tenant who currently lives in the side my daughter will live in was given a notice to vacate, and she'll be out by the end of next month. She was a long-term tenant (nine years) and, judging from what I saw when I went through the place, didn't do a lot of deep cleaning while she was there. I mean the place wasn't trashed, but it was definitely pretty dingy.

This is my first time buying a place with existing tenants. With other tenants, I provide a list at move-in of the tasks they will be expected to complete at move-out if they want to receive their deposit back. I even include the amount I will charge for each task that isn't completed--for instance, not cleaning out the oven incurs an automatic $150 charge. 

Since I have no way of knowing what shape the place was in when she moved in nine years ago, can I still do this? It seems like I should be able to. But who knows? With all of the crazy laws out there "protecting" tenants from us greedy landlords, I thought I'd check.

Thanks for any input you can offer!

What is this free PayPal account you speak of? My business PayPal account charges me 2.9% plus .30 per transaction. Or I should say "charged" me 2.9% plus .30 per transaction. I no longer use it for that reason!