Returning a Deposit Early- Inherited Tenant- Thoughts
Hello All,
So we just closed on a rental house yesterday, and one of our new tenants would like to renew his lease, which is up at the end of March (over 6 months away). He has lived there for 3.5 years, claims to pay on time every month (and has as far as we know) and claims to have done no damage to the apartment. Our plan was to fix up the units as the leases end in order to a)not be slum lords and b) get a bit more in rent and c) pass the city's rental inspection which happens every 2 years and is already 9 months overdue. This particular unit is pretty trashed- there are holes in the hollow core doors, baseboard radiators are beat up, counter tops are chipped, carpets are snagged and stained, screens are damaged or missing, and the entry way is in dire need of some love. The tenant claims none of this was caused by him, but does not have a copy of the move in report and neither does the seller (I will ask again though). Given the state of the rest of the apartments and statements from other tenants, the place probably was this bad when the guy moved in so I wouldn't be deducting any of the existing issues from his deposit.
He is stressed out about losing his home, but will likely not pass the screening/background check to stay. He does not have much income, so scraping together enough for a deposit somewhere else is going to be tough, even in 6+ months. We talked about the security deposit today, and I told him we like to return deposits within a week though we are allowed a month by law, and he asked that, given the circumstances, we return the deposit early to help him move along to a new place. The lease says there is a $100 cleaning fee automatically deducted, which I told him we would return to him if he left the place clean. Do you think it makes sense to do a walkthrough about a week before he moves out, and if all seems to be as expected, return the majority of the deposit early? Maybe hold back the $100 cleaning fee and return that after he moves out if he leaves it in good shape?
I have offered to waive the background check fee (we have no record of a background check run by the previous landlord) but I am not sure he would pass- the income he rattled off wouldn't be 3x the monthly rent (even for his half) and he has a DUI from 14-15 years ago (not sure if this would show up in a criminal check or not). If he did pass, most of the work needed could be done with him in place, though it makes things a lot more difficult since he is ALWAYS home, so this is not our ideal scenario.
Thoughts?
Kelly