Can We End a Lease Before the Tenant Moves In

[Jake Valkusky]

Hi BiggerPockets,

We have a tenant that will be moving into one of our properties tomorrow and some things came up that make him not a good fit for our property. If we refund his first, last, and security deposit, can we end the lease? What else needs to be done?

Looking forward to your help as soon as possible! Thank you in advance!

[Nicole A.]

What came up that make him not a good fit? Why wasn't this found during the background/credit check?

He's moving in tomorrow and already has a signed lease, so it's quite last minute. You could offer this refund and see how he responds, but I doubt this is going to start things off in a good light because right now I'm not sure how you could just break the lease without potentially being in hot water. I think we might need more details.