Tenant gave verbal notice they are moving

[Andrew O.]

On May 29 the tenants gave me verbal notice they are buying a house and moving by end of July.  They must've closed on the house early and have been frantically moving all their stuff but havent communicated anything to me.  To confirm my suspicion I checked the Consumers Energy landlord portal and sure enough they scheduled the end of their electric service for June 28.  What are my options here?  Can I make them pay for July as they said they would, can I take the security deposit?  They are on a month to month lease and this is my first tenant turnover and I also live in the building. 

[Drew Sygit]

Quote from @Andrew O.:

On May 29 the tenants gave me verbal notice they are buying a house and moving by end of July.  They must've closed on the house early and have been frantically moving all their stuff but havent communicated anything to me.  To confirm my suspicion I checked the Consumers Energy landlord portal and sure enough they scheduled the end of their electric service for June 28.  What are my options here?  Can I make them pay for July as they said they would, can I take the security deposit?  They are on a month to month lease and this is my first tenant turnover and I also live in the building. 

Michigan requires 30-day written notice on MTM leases, UNLESS the lease states otherwise.

How did the tenants give you verbal notice? 
- Phone or in person?

Did you dispute their notice at that time? 
- If not, you may have given up your right to dispute it now.
- A judge is highly likely to rule against you fighting this:(

Today is June 25, so legally, tenants could give you 30-day notice in writing today that they will be ending lease July 31. 
- Ask them for this, with confirmation they will pay July rent!

REALITY: tenant's may think they can allow you to use the security deposit (SD) for "last month of rent". Michigan law does NOT allow this unless both parties agree in writing.
- You will need to stress this to the tenants that their SD is for damages, NOT rent.
- Hopefully, they pay July rent. Otherwise, it's VERY difficult to fight them about using SD for last month of rent - you could send 7-Day Nonpayment Evict Notice, but by the time you get court date, they will have moved out, effectively ending the case. Then you will have to take them to Small Claims Court for damages exceeding their SD:( 

DM me if you'd like to chat more about this...