Found out my tenant want to end lease from prospective landlord

[Devin Stratton]

Hello BP community,

I am a new landlord seeking advice on a breach of lease situation on my first rental.

Back story: I am from Houston, Texas and my tenants just moved from Denham Springs, LA for new employment . These tenants were carefully screened and they met all of my very selective tenant criteria. They signed a 12 months lease on 8/29 and on 9/30 I received a call from a landlord in LA asking for references on my current tenant. This was a complete shock as my tenant have not mention anything about wanting to break the lease. I waited until after I received rent payment for October to confront the tenants. When I confronted them, they denied applying for a new rental but admit that they are wishing to move out in 2-3 weeks due to family health problems in LA. There is no clause in the lease agreement for early termination. Due to lack of notice, I'm not sure if I can get new tenants in the property right after my current tenant move out. What are some steps I can take to mitigate my loss while allowing my tenants to move out?

Some options I'm contemplating:

A) Have them sign a early termination contract and allow them to break lease with a penalty of 2 month's rent. I don't want to put a strain on their finances since they're going through so much already, but I need mitigate my losses. Winter is coming...

B) Allow them to move out and withhold the deposit of $2000 and $300 pet deposit. Once the property is occupied by new tenants, refund the prorated amount of security deposit based on how long it takes to rent the property out. 

Subletting the property is not an option. Please share your experiences on how you deal with breach of lease situations and which of the option above will mitigate my losses. Thanks in advance. 

[Nathan Gesner]

1. I would start by simply talking to the tenant and see if you can negotiate a termination fee. For example, you could explain the hassle, cost of marketing and turnover, etc. Tell them you'll let them out of their contract for one month's additional rent and they forfeit their deposit. They may accept it. They may try to negotiate a smaller amount. Or they may push back and call you the son of a motherless goat. You'll be surprised how many people will do the right thing and pay you for the trouble. If they refuse to pay anything, wait until they are out and do your best to rent it as quickly as possible. Use the deposit to cover unpaid rent, utilities, and other expenses and then refund any unused portion like an honest Landlord should do.

2. Develop an early termination policy before this happens again. You can find examples via Google search.