Tenants Break Up - But BOTH Want To Stay - What should I do?

[Daniel Yip]

All, I have a sticky situation. Any advise would be appreciated.

My tenants (boyfriend, girlfriend) have broken up ... the man is the sole bread winner.  The woman stays home to care for the kids (they are of a mixed family).  They pay the rent on time and take care of the property.  Recently the couple had argued so much that the cops were called once.  Long story short they've agreed the relationship is over, but BOTH parties want to remain in the house.  They've signed a year-long lease until Apr 2023 ... 

The man asks me if he can remain there and restructure the contract (to be without her name; evicting her essentially).  The woman, whom I haven't talked to, though has broken up with the man, still feels she's done enough in this domestic relationship to be allowed to stay in the house.  Again, the rent is paid on time.  

So, from a landlord's perspective, is this a case of "there's nothing I can do" (or even should do)?   Thanks.

[JD Martin]

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Quote from @JD Martin:

I know this will come off sounding cold but, so be it: who cares about your tenant's long term security? 

Thank you JD. This is something a lot of younger/newer LLs get caught up in.....I know from your posts you are a caring kind of guy, but this is business and I agree we landlords must take care of #1 first. That means ourselves and our families, not the tenant. We are obligated (legally and morally) to provide a clean decent place to live in exchange for a set sum of money. That's it, period.

 Thanks Bruce. Unfortunately, sometimes "being liberal" comes off as a bleeding heart with no expectations. Most people that know me think I'm a hard-*** because I believe exactly the opposite. No one should receive anything - Section 8, food stamps, even military/ss disability - without some type of work unless you are 100% physically & mentally disabled. It destroys the self-esteem of the people receiving the freebies, discourages those who do work, and there's a limited amount of resources everywhere and decisions always need to be made on how to allocate those resources. Besides, there's a million things out there that need doing - from child care to sitting with the elderly to cleaning up parks and streets to... - and everyone has some kind of skill or ability they could be providing to society. It takes effort from everyone to keep a civilization strong.

It's also why I get into scrapes when people talk about the homeless. Except for the few who have legitimate mental illness and the rare "down on their luck" person, most of those guys/gals with signs are just lazy scammers. And we used to call them bums or hobos, not George Carlin'd the term down to the nicer sounding "homeless". If you're smart enough to get a cellphone, a free meal from the church and craft a "anything helps" sign and carry a backpack and a chair to the intersection, you're smart enough to get a job and get your own help. Not politically correct, to be sure, but there's a lot of people who would have society believing that it's just expensive rent and greedy landlords that created this problem. 

[Bruce Woodruff]

Quote from @JD Martin:

Thanks Bruce. Unfortunately, sometimes "being liberal" comes off as a bleeding heart with no expectations. Most people that know me think I'm a hard-*** because I believe exactly the opposite.

Ahaha...you sound like an 'old-school' liberal, the kind I used to actually be able to sit down and have a reasoned conversation with..... :-)

[Eric Mcginn]

I would double check with a lawyer and give him the renewed lease in his name if that's what he wants. certainly take no further action than that and keep collecting rent