Tenant decides to self terminate lease 17 days in. MD

Jeromie Williams · 2021-06-17T06:02:22-07:00

I had just got an email from my new tenant that decided to vacate the premises because she had "discovered conditions within the apartment that she deemed unacceptable for her to continue with her lease." She claims that a week after moving in she found some rodent poop in the bathroom and ceiling, as well as, dead mice in the ceiling. She also states there are large open holes that allow easy access for mice to come in and out as they please. Next, she informed me that beetles were coming through the carpet "especially where dirt can still be seen from the lack of the ground floor being completely cemented." Lastly, she found it "extremely disconcerting that when I was explaining the issue of mice and what was found I was asked whether or not the mice were dead or alive. I believe it is a fair assumption to make that no person would want to live with feces or carcasses above their head." This is a gist of what was sent to me and as a still new landlord this has me very confused. I would like to explain my side and then ask for advice from more experienced people (of course I'm aware that I will still need to get a lawyer to talk about this with.) For context, we informed her that before she moved there had been mice but we called pest control twice, before she moved in when renovations were done and months prior. The tenant that had just left the month hadn't seen mice for a couple months before he moved out. During renovations the contractor also went around the outside of the building to seal up any holes they found to make it hard for them to get in. This is my first time ever hearing about beetles coming through the ground. The asking if they were dead or alive was to see if there was infestation, but I truly believe the dead mice that might be in the ceiling have been dead for quite awhile and the reason I hadn't gotten them removed was because I didn't know they were there. I was told by the first pest control person that mice are so small that they decompose quickly so I wouldn't have to worry about cleaning up and that they leave no smell when decomposing. The lease I had her sign was the one BP offers, which states that she agreed that when she moved that it was rodent proof. She also did a walk through as well before she signed the lease to make sure it was up to her satisfaction. Currently, I'm doing a tour in South Korea so I'm not there in person. My girlfriend is managing the property so has been there in person. Additionally, she changed some things that weren't really properly explained or given approval for, like she wanted to change light and we assumed light bulb, but in her letter she says something about "The light in the bedroom was replaced and energy efficient lights were added in its place they were installed by a code official." That sounds more like a light bulb than the impression we got. She also changed the ceiling panels in the bedroom which I never approved of. So, I'm wondering what my options are because I think I have a good case for taking her to court to get the rest of the rent money and she said she already vacated the apt, when can I try to lease it out again?

Matthew CrivelliBusiness Member

Lender · MA · Member since 2021 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes

5y

Don't fight her, let the lady leave and find new tenants. This is after three weeks and she's acting like this! More drama coming your way! I would pay this lady to leave my house lol.

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Matt Devincenzo

Investor · Clairemont, CA · Member since 2011 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes

5y

Agreed let her go and be glad she left when she did. Having mouse 'corpses' above your head is nothing...I just found a rat in the attic of my personal residence a couple months ago that died what looks like a decade ago...it's what happens when they die out of sight. As far as any money I'd keep 17 days worth of rent and assuming her repairs are satisfactory refund the balance and security deposit. Your last paragraph implies she may be asking for a full refund plus the costs of the materials/labor done for the light/ceiling?

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Russell BrazilBusiness Member

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Real Estate Agent · Washington, D.C. · Member since 2012 · 17k+ posts · 30k+ votes

5y

So just to be clear....you were aware there was dead mice in the unit, and you let someone move in. They complain about the dead mice you were aware of.

You think you have a good case to take her to court. What exactly do you think a judge is going to do when they find out you knew there werr dead mice in the unit and you were just planning on letting them decompose and hopefully the tenant wouldn't notice?

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Jay HinrichsBusiness Member

Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes

5y

Originally posted by @Russell Brazil:

So just to be clear....you were aware there was dead mice in the unit, and you let someone move in. They complain about the dead mice you were aware of.

You think you have a good case to take her to court. What exactly do you think a judge is going to do when they find out you knew there werr dead mice in the unit and you were just planning on letting them decompose and hopefully the tenant wouldn't notice?

Only way to Rodent proof a rental is change tenants.. generally speaking.. rodents can get into the most Rodent proof homes there are bottom line.. its the tenants living conditions that create these infestations 97.6% of the time.

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Scott M.

Real Estate Broker · Rochester Hills, MI · Member since 2009 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes

5y

@Jeromie Williams is this a troll post? You knew about mice in the unit and then she is complaining about mice in the unit and leaves and you think you have a great case to sue her for the balance of the rent?

Clean it up, get pest control in there and get on with your live. Do not take this woman to court because you will loose, as you should.

Also, even if you didn't know about the mice you really think you will win in court after 19 days that the tenant should pay the balance of the rent, for what a year? Say you do win, what then? You think she is just going to hand over that money even if she has it? Collection is going to be a pain. You want to terrorize this woman over things that you new about?

19 Days, just move on. But this time clean the unit properly and get the pest issue solved

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Jay HinrichsBusiness Member

Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes

5y

Originally posted by @Scott M.:

@Jeromie Williams is this a troll post? You knew about mice in the unit and then she is complaining about mice in the unit and leaves and you think you have a great case to sue her for the balance of the rent?

Clean it up, get pest control in there and get on with your live. Do not take this woman to court because you will loose, as you should.

Also, even if you didn't know about the mice you really think you will win in court after 19 days that the tenant should pay the balance of the rent, for what a year? Say you do win, what then? You think she is just going to hand over that money even if she has it? Collection is going to be a pain. You want to terrorize this woman over things that you new about?

19 Days, just move on. But this time clean the unit properly and get the pest issue solved

What is a Troll post .. i see that term used how would that relate to this post. Just curious as i am not up on the lingo of modern social media.

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Scott M.

Real Estate Broker · Rochester Hills, MI · Member since 2009 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes

5y

Well, as a man in my 50's who doesn't participate in social media far be it from me to define a troll post, but a troll post is one that is intended to provoke an emotional response from others. Generally not a real post just one created to inflame.

Hard to believe "Tenant complains about mice in the unit that I knew about before she moved in. Tenant left. Can I sue her for the balance of the lease?" is a genuine question.

But just my opinion, what the heck do I know?

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Theresa HarrisPro Member

Member since 2019 · 15k+ posts · 11k+ votes

5y

Let her go. With beetles coming in through the ground and her checking the ceiling for mice, she's probably a bit off. You said you called pest control twice in the last while and they dealt with things. Last time was more than 2 months ago. Have them go by again and make sure everything is good and any dead mice are removed. If it was dealt with, I don't know why you mentioned it to her. Remind tenants to keep things tidy and not to leave food out.

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Joe SplitrockPro Member

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Rental Property Investor · Sioux Falls, SD · Member since 2015 · 9k+ posts · 18k+ votes

5y

@Jeromie Williams legally speaking, you can only sue someone for rent when it is past due. I assume she paid June rent, so you can't sue her until July and at that time you can only sue her for unpaid July rent. Theoretically you could sue her every month for rent, but the court may not award in your favor. Although she is breaking a contract, you have responsibility to mitigate your losses by rerenting the property. You can't just let it sit vacant and sue her every month. You have to show good fait effort to rent. The damages you can recover from her are limited to your ACTUAL loss. If you get a new tenant in the property on July 1, your loss is limited to 13 of 30 days worth of rent, so 13/30 times monthly rent. You could also charge a leasing fee to cover your time finding a new tenant. The fair market value of that is 1/2 to 1 full months rent. If there was any damages or cleaning required, you could also charge that amount, but with only 17 days in the property that seems limited. Ultimately a lease break is worth 1-3 months rent depending on how it is handled. You would never be awarded a full years worth of rent and even if you were, if you rented that property to someone else during that year, you would have to refund back to the tenant because you can't "double dip" rent.

Also be aware in a normal situation where someone stops paying rent, you would normally pursue eviction. If a tenant is evicted, you are only able to collect rent up until the eviction date. You can't hold someone responsible for rent after you throw them out. In her case it is actually considered abandonment, so there is no reason to evict.

My suggestion is notify the tenant that they have a lease obligation. Tell them as a landlord, your responsibility is to remedy defects such as pest issues. She gave you no opportunity to remedy and immediately left. That doesn't eliminate her responsibility under the contract. Give her three options:

1. She is responsible for rent and utilities until you place a new tenant, whether that is two weeks or three months, etc. On top of that she must pay one months rent as a leasing fee. That is to compensate your time to find a new tenant. Let her know that is the going rate with third parting leasing agencies (get proof of that and if the going rate is less, charge less).

2. Offer her a simple lease break option. For example, she must pay two months rent. Whether it takes you one day or three months to rent the property, her fee is just two months rent.

3. She continues to pay rent and utilities every month through her lease as per the current agreement. (Obviously she will not like this option, but the point is showing her this is the current agreement. Let her break that agreement in favor of option one or two.)

Present these options in the form of a lease break agreement decision. Talk to her about how she wants to proceed. She will likely demand to pay nothing and ask for her security deposit back. I would explain to her that the problems she reported were new issues and they do not render the property inhabitable, therefore her braking the lease is not allowed. Her responsibility is reporting problems and yours is addressing them in a timely manner. Ultimately you may want to just negotiate something less for compensation. I would negotiate down to remainder of June rent and keeping the security deposit. Just be very careful with communications, because if she takes you to court, you need to show you responded properly. If you have not already done so, hire a professional pest control company to evaluate the rodent and pest compliant. If there are dead rodents, pay them to remove. Keep paperwork and get signed statements from them attesting to the actual situation. You will need this in court as proof you took action.

For future reference, do not tell a new tenant that there was a historic problem with rodents. Fix the issue, clean up the mess and if the new tenant reports a new issue, deal with it immediately. Even if a lease says "tenant is responsible for pest issues", that doesn't mean you are not responsible in certain circumstances:

1. Pre-existing pest infestations are the owners responsibility. If someone is reporting an issue within two weeks of moving into the property, that is a pre-existing situation. Even if they did a walk through, you can't expect them to see every little issue. We give tenants two weeks to report any defect that needs attention.

2. In multifamily properties, pest infestations can be created by tenants in adjoining units. Roaches and mice travel between units, so holding one tenant responsible for an issue created by another tenant is not fair. If this is multifamily, you should be taking care of any pest issue.

I would go further and say even if your lease says that pest infestation is the tenants responsibility, you may still want to take responsibility and deal with it. If the exterminator determines the tenants actions lead to the issue, you can notify them, "this one is on me, but if you keep doing X, they will come back and you will need to cover the cost next time to deal with the problem." I know some hard *** landlords just make the tenant cover everything and blame them for all problems, but that often leads to conflict and situation like you have. It is cheaper in the long run to pay $100 and fix these type of issues.

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Jeromie Williams

OP

Investor · Halethrope, MD · Member since 2019 · 21 posts · 9 votes

5y

Thank you so much, this was super helpful.

Originally posted by @Joe Splitrock: