All Forum Posts by: Ryan G.

I am also looking to speak with a local attorney to get actual legal counsel. I thought this might be something others had experienced and could provide insight. 

Hi David, Thanks for the reply, but you didn't really address my question.

After researching this, I know the deploying member is legally allowed out of the lease. However, my question is not what I should do based on your opinions of keeping a good reputation renting to military. I do not discriminate against military - as I am a veteran - which is part of the reason I gave these three military females a chance, even though 2 had less than desirable credit. I am well aware of the chain of command and inner workings of the military. 

My question is on the legal validity of a lease that is for 3 people. Not 3 separate leases to 3 individuals. If the one deploying member requests to be out of the lease, am I legally allowed to declare that lease invalid? I want to know if I have to allow the other 2 tenants to remain on the lease? I know I can, I know I could allow the replacement to apply and make a decision on the tenants at that point, which I am considering as an option. But my question remains, do I have to honor the lease with 2 people after the deploying tenant requests to cancel/remove from the lease?

The reason I want to know is because I believe other clauses in the lease are being violated and I believe I'm being lied to; I'm not screwing anyone. However, you lie to me, you lose your credibility and any chance you will receive my good will. Business is business and I want to know what my legal standing is before I begin working through the issues with them.

I have a rental with 3 tenants in the military about 3 months into a 12 month lease. One is being deployed and asked to be removed from the lease for the deployment, which I know is valid reason to be let out of a lease. 

My question is around the validity or the lease with the other 2 tenants if I remove the deploying service member  from the lease.

I don’t want to maintain a lease with just the two of them as the credit of the departing party was the strongest. But if that tenant is adamant about being removed from the lease, what are my options for the remaining 2? They have a replacement they’d like to submit as a tenant, which I’m willing to consider, however, if that tenant does not have strong enough credit and financial standing, do I have grounds to void the lease to all three and request they move out? 

I figured i would share some solutions I'm thinking of and see if anyone has thoughts on those as well.

1. I've contacted the utility company to see if sub-metering is allowed with 2 separate accounts so that future tenant can assume responsibility.

2. An electrician has told me they can install analog meters on each sub panel, allowing me to manually calculate util usage each month and bill the tenant for it directly, while keeping the utilities in my name.

Any thoughts on either of these would be appreciated. 

HI Jeff and thanks for the reply. That was my concern, as the wording is not quantifiable. We will correct that at 1 year renewal time period and I am starting the process of looking into sub-metering the 2 units so I don't have to deal with this in the future. 

Do you believe there is any grounds to enforce due to the verbiage of "not running heating or air conditioning when not home"? Really all i'm after is getting them to use a thermostat schedule, so it's not on as much when they're not home. 

Do you have any information on sub-metering? I am finding it difficult to locate information from the utility company. I'm not subject to any HOA and the additional unit is permitted with it's own sub-panel. I just need to get the 2 units metered on their own utility accounts....

I have a SFR with 2 units. There is only 1 meter for utilities at this property so utilities are included in the monthly rent. I have verbiage in the signed lease as follows:

Utilities – Reasonable utilities are included in the monthly rental fee assessed per occupancy. If it is determined

excessive utilities are being consumed by an individual or unit, management reserves the right to amend this and

hold tenant responsible for additional portion of utilities.

i. Be responsible with usage:

1. Do not leave air conditioning or heat on when no one is home.

2. Do not leave electronics/lights on when not needed.

ii. Crypto-mining is prohibited due to excessive use of electricity.

iii. Electric vehicle charging is prohibited.

I have nest thermostats installed which allows me to see usage. One unit is refusing to keep a schedule in the thermostat, thus leaving air conditioning on 1 temperature all the time. I have confirmation from one tenant that they work normal business hours and are gone most of the day (tried to schedule home owner insurance inspection and got a response via text with that info).

My question is, how can I go about enforcing them to set a thermostat schedule? Do I have legal standing to enforce it with the verbiage in the lease addendum they all signed? I will attempt to work through it with them first, but if they continue to refuse, what recourse do I have legally? Is the verbiage enough? 

Thanks.