How to move people out upon completion of lease

[Carey Branam]

If a landlord chooses not to extend the lease after the initial year is up how do you get the tenants out? Am I required to continue renting to them? Is there wording in your lease that makes it easier to move people along? It just seems easier to kick them out after their lease is up than to evict.

[Ray Harrell]

You give the tenants a notice of non-renewal either 30, 60, or 90 days prior to the end of the lease (depends on your local rules). Now, that's just a notice of non-renewal. That's not a guarantee that they will actually move. What I would do is, about 15 days before their expected move out date, schedule a pre-inspection of the property. That way you can look for signs of packing which will indicate that they are preparing to move.

I caution against signing a new lease for the day after the old tenant is expected to be out. Many "investors" are greedy and want to turn the property over in one day. But depending on your tenant type this can cause problems. What if you sign a lease for Sep 1 but the old tenant decides they don't want to be out by Aug 30? Now you have a REAL problem! And yes, it does happen!