Did my tenant break their lease?

Question

I have a tenant on a month to month lease and on June 26 I advised the tenant that I would like them to sign a year lease and rent would be increasing effective 8/1. The tenants texted me stating "I will be giving a 30 days notice" instead of signing the new lease terms. I gave them the option to extend the lease another month since they were having a hard time getting approved for the new property and I sent her an email on July 14th stating the month to month lease will end on 8/31/20 and that the last payment will be dude on 8/1/20 which the tenant replied and agreed to the terms. While I was working on the property last week the tenant came over and advised that they have been approved for the new place and will be out by 7/31 giving me less than a week to do the turnover for the property. The tenants have vacated the property as of 7/30.

Can I hold the tenant to the lease terms they've agreed on and keep their deposit if they don't make the payment on 8/1? Let me know what you guys think as I am unable to fill the property until 9/1 at this point due to the last minute move out notice.

Bryan Noth · Answer

@Zoran Domazet if you have written confirmation of an intent to stay then there is your paper trail.  The tenant can vacate whenever they want, but their lease terms should still be valid without appropriate notice.  Which both parties are responsible to uphold.

Bryan Noth · Answer

@Zoran Domazet refer to the lease agreement.  If the lease terms state that the tenant is required to give 30 days advance written notice for a move out date, one day notice should be a violation.  Verbal notice is also not valid in most states, even for maintenance requests I would always require they submit the written request for record keeping when I self managed.

Zoran Domazet · Answer

Hey @Bryan Noth, thanks for the quick reply. They initially gave a 30 day notice via text message on 6/30 but were not able to get approved for the new property and agreed to stay an extra month (August). They agreed to make 1 more rent payment and move out on 8/31 (confirmed via Email) but I guess within the last week they got approved and decided to leave on 7/31 instead. I inherited the tenants and the month to month lease through a purchase a few months ago and want to make sure I don't end up in small claims court for keeping their deposit.

Below is the lease in place

Mary M. · Answer

Dont get in a battle. Its not worth it.

Contact the company that sprayed and have them repeat the treatment.

I would also return tenants deposit in full unless there was damage that needed repairing

Amy Aziz · Answer

@Zoran Domazet I'm so sorry you are dealing with all this! I definitely do not miss having tenants.  Keep us posted on the outcome.

Theresa Harris · Answer

@Zoran Domazet  Until she returns the keys, you haven't taken possession.  I'd change the locks, charge her for the 6 days that you couldn't access it as a) she had the keys and b) it was being fumigated.  Contact the company that sprayed it and tell them the fleas are still there.  Then have it sprayed by another company, deduct this from her deposit.

Zoran Domazet · Answer

@Theresa Harris @Alexandre Marques dos Santos @Mary Mitchell I really appreciate all the feedback and advice. The situation seems to have escalated, the tenants moved out on 7/30 but they apparently had 2 cats, which was not part of our lease. There is a not pet policy. The reason I found out is because the house is infested with fleas and when I told her about it she mentioned that her cats do not have fleas... She did however offer to send out pest control to spray the unit. The unit was not accessible until yesterday due to the fumes from Pest Control and there is still signs of fleas. The tenant is also refusing to return the keys until her " security deposit" is returned. I advised her that she will need to return the keys and provide me with her new address and I will send her a notice regarding the security deposit.

Theresa Harris · Answer

If they agreed to staying until the end of Aug, then they are responsible for rent.  Do your best to get it rented and if you are able to rent it for Aug 15, only charge them for the first half of the month.

Alexandre Marques dos Santos · Answer

@Zoran Domazet

If you have in written  you have postponed the rental for Aug31st, and they agreed, then the first noticed became not valid.

On the new rental search they should be aware the were tied till Aug 31 st.  They should actually try to rent to start after Aug 1st.  I wonder why they did not do it.

Also having found the new property, they would have contacted to you and ASKED if they could leave the property before, at least would give you a bit more time to put the property on the market.

I cannot tell they did it, but i had tenants that wanted to keep property Closed ( avoiding showing the property in the last month) without paying the extra rent ( my contract gives them the ability to pay extra for not showing the property in the last month of the lease).  your case  presents a similar situation...

I would charge the Last month.  This is not a PENALTY.  Its a contractual obligation, that protects BOTH, tenant and landlord.

What if you have found a great tenant that wanted to start in Aug 1st?  Could you kick them out of the house with 1-2 weeks advance noticed?  No!  So why could they do that and throw it on you?

Mary M. · Answer

@Zoran Domazet you must mitigate their risk. Ie rent the unit asap. You cant just keep their deposit.

And, why punish them for doing what you wanted them to do? You would of needed to rent the unit in any case.

I guess i dont see the need to "make them pay"

Did my tenant break their lease?

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