Tenant may be deported

[Marty O'Brien]

Hi,

I've done a little research and haven't found any advice that applies to my situation.

I have a tenant on a student visa who may be deported immediately. She was a good tenant who paid and was respectful and will most likely be willing to work together. She has been up front with me about the deportation.

I intend to work together toward a resolution with her, but I assume she intends to break lease due to this. However, I know that she does not have time to remove her belongings.

Here are my understandings of the situation. Please correct me if any of them are wrong:

• The tenants lease will continue until either a) we agree on a termination or b) she is evicted.
• Deportation is not de-facto grounds for eviction/lease termination (even though my lease is non-transferable).
• If she fails to remove her belongings or have them removed, I will have to proceed with eviction.

Questions I have:

• Am I justified in keeping the security/damage deposit?
• What other restitution can (/SHOULD?) I reasonably demand?

I am just trying to think through any gotchas or any considerations I should be getting ahead of. This is in PA, but before I even get into state laws, I'm trying to understand the implications of the situation in general (is this abandonment, etc.?)

Again, I want to stress that I believe this can be resolved mutually, and I intend to proceed that route, but I want to make sure I protect myself in case things go south and, while I'm sure this isn't the first time this has happened, this seems to be a relatively obscure situation.

Thanks,

--Marty