Problems with tenant while trying to show unit
I have a Tenant here in Kansas City who moved out before lease was up. She has paid all rents that are due under the lease. Unit is empty and we are showing prospective tenants. Current tenant who is still under lease is requesting to be present at all showings which would require us to work around her schedule. We are giving her 24 hour notice of showings and are scheduling these at the convenience of prospective tenants.
Do we have to accommodate current tenants request to be present of showings of our empty unit?
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#4 All Forums Contributor
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#4 All Forums Contributor
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Ok so as I understand it what you are saying is she isn't actually living in the property but per her lease and what she has paid rent for she has paid for another month of possession and wants to be present for your showings to new tenants.
With the above said my question is did she relinquish possession to you yet? IE did she give you all copies of her keys? Because her living there and being in possession are two different things. What's important is the possession not necessarily where she is actually sleeping.
It should be in the lease. 24 hour notice and the tenant does not need to be there.
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#4 All Forums Contributor
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You lost me. Is the tenant living there or is the tenant not living there?
@James Wise
Sorry for the confusion.
She has moved out and the unit is empty. She moved out 4 weeks before the end of her lease. Yes it is written in lease agreement to give 24 hour notice.
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#4 All Forums Contributor
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Ok so as I understand it what you are saying is she isn't actually living in the property but per her lease and what she has paid rent for she has paid for another month of possession and wants to be present for your showings to new tenants.
With the above said my question is did she relinquish possession to you yet? IE did she give you all copies of her keys? Because her living there and being in possession are two different things. What's important is the possession not necessarily where she is actually sleeping.
@James Wise
She is not living there and the unit is empty but she is in possession because she is still under lease. We are giving the 24 hour notice but she is requesting to be present at the showings.
Everything that I have read says that we are only required to give notice (24 hours per our lease) and not that she has any right to be there during a showing.
Thanks for your input!
@Daryl Luc
She has been a very high maintenance client for quite some time so we are relieved to have a new tenant.
I don’t know what her beef is other than she has expressed concern that she’ll be liable for any damage that could happen during showings. Not sure how unit could get damaged. I think she’s doing everything she can to ensure she gets her entire deposit back.
Weird situation but just trying to make sure I’m not crossing any legal lines.
Thanks for your input!
Did you do a walk thru with her and do you have documentation of any issues? If not, I would allow her to be present. Otherwise you might find that she will fight any and all deductions of her deposit as damage done during showing(s) while she was not present
#3 Managing Your Property Contributor
It would be easier for you to do a walk through with her, her hand over the keys and you sort out the deposit if she's already moved out.
As the others said, give 24 hours' notice and do the showings at times that work for you and the prospective tenants.
@Mary Mitchell
We asked her to do a final walk through and turn over keys so she wouldn’t have any liability to damage during showings or while she is not living there.
She said she would do that as long as we would refund any rent due if she was handing over keys prior to the end date of her lease.
After hearing everyone’s input it sounds like I should continue giving her the 24 hour notice and just schedule at our convenience. I don’t need to let her know exact time so she can be present. We have 8 days left on the lease so we’ll just get through it and hopefully move onto a new tenant!
@Theresa Harris
Thanks for your input!
@Adam Lang. Dont be surprised when you end up fighting her if you dont refund 100% of her deposit.
If this was my situation, I would of done the walk thru, gotten keys, refunded unused rent if I didnt want to have the hassle of a fight over the deposit and goine on with life A weeks rent should not break the bank.
@Adam Lang
I would do exactly what @Mary Mitchell said above. Do the walk thru, get keys, refund her the rest of the month and be done with this PITA tenant.
Work smarter not harder!
@Adam Lang She just doesn’t want you holding her responsible for any damage that may occur during the showings. Is damage likely during showings? Of course not, but it sounds like this tenant is being difficult because they can. Just continue giving 24 hours notice until her lease is up.
Personally, I would post 24 hour notice on her door and take a photo. Since she isn't living there, she will never see it to show up. You've covered your *** and don't have to deal with her.
Side note, I would have never dealt with this circus. If she broke the lease, possession is turned over and keys are returned. If she refused to turn over the keys, I would have told her to enjoy her empty apartment because I can't begin showing the unit until keys are turned in. (I'd have to run that by a lawyer first.) In my eyes, when you break a lease, you are no longer paying rent, giving you the legal right to occupy the unit, you are paying liquidated damages which do not give you the right to the unit. How can I show prospective tenants a unit, if you believe you can claim possession at anytime? (Again, I'd run that by a lawyer)
@Adam Lang
If you rent to someone else she would get a refund on her paid up lease.
If she objects to not getting notice to show tell her you will not rent it until her lease is up and just keep all her money.
I’d probably show it and not tell her. How would she even know? The notice to tenant to show the unit is meant to give an occupant a heads up for the interruption. If she’s not an occupant there may not even be a question about the matter.
I might just ignore her and not worry about it. She probably doesn’t have the wherewithal to make a big deal out of it.