Tenant wants to kick wife out and get her off the lease. Huh?
Got a strange one guys. I have a tenant who is married. Husband and wife both signed the lease. Wife is running around and not coming home for weeks at a time. Husband is fed up with her and wants to take her off the lease so he can kick her out. I told him his problem has nothing to do with his lease as she is a legal tenant there. Am I missing something? I can't see how I can change their lease mid way and also what difference it makes since she is a legal resident of the apartment. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? This community is awesome so thanks in advance.
This is NOT your problem. Don't let them make it so.
#1 Tenant Screening Contributor
- Property Manager
- Honolulu, HI
Simple. Give them a notice of non renewal at the earliest lawful date. They are welcome to BOTH go their separate ways, no need to give a reason.
Quote from @Charlie MacPherson:Ha ha agreed
Wow. This is a hard situation, but only one phrase comes to mind. "Not my circus, not my monkeys".
This is NOT your problem. Don't let them make it so.
Quote from @Richard F.:Problem is husband is a great guy and wants to stay. She is the problem but unfortunately it’s really his problem.
Aloha,
Simple. Give them a notice of non renewal at the earliest lawful date. They are welcome to BOTH go their separate ways, no need to give a reason.
Quote from @Sylvia H.:
Got a strange one guys. I have a tenant who is married. Husband and wife both signed the lease. Wife is running around and not coming home for weeks at a time. Husband is fed up with her and wants to take her off the lease so he can kick her out. I told him his problem has nothing to do with his lease as she is a legal tenant there. Am I missing something? I can't see how I can change their lease mid way and also what difference it makes since she is a legal resident of the apartment. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? This community is awesome so thanks in advance.
This is super common, we deal with this multiple times per year- you simply have someone who wants to get rid of a roommate. The short answer is that there is zero benefit to you, and you could very likely find yourself in court if you try to do this. There are two possible secenarios (but I'd reccomend you just tell the husband, "sorry, but nope.")
-Scenario 1: Wife wants off the lease: You could do this as a favor, but if the husband defaults, you can't go after the wife for rent, which benefits her, not you.
-Scenario 2: She doesn't want off the lease: drop it there. She has the legal right to be on the lease and occupy the property when she wants and you have no legal reason to deny her that right.
They are having a personal problem that has nothing to do with you or your lease. Don't make it your problem. I see this all of the time with self managers- getting roped in to personal drama and tenants wanting to use their landlord and their lease to exact revenge on their friends and family. Just say no!
This is not unusual. Don't get involved in personal disputes. If one of them wants to leave of their own volition, let them go but make sure it's documented and signed by all parties. You also want to verify the remaining tenant can afford the rent.
If he wants her gone but she doesn't want to leave, that's a personal matter that they can work through without your involvement. If it's causing you problems, give them a 30-day notice and tell them both to leave, then they can work out the problems somewhere else.
#2 General Landlording & Rental Properties Contributor
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#2 General Landlording & Rental Properties Contributor
Tell him if she wants her name off the lease because she's no longer living there and he meets your criteria for rentals, then take her off the lease. That still won't prevent her from going to the house. It is his problem and if he wanted her out, then he should deal with it and change the locks (and give you a copy of the key)-but that is HIS problem.
Quote from @Corby Goade:Totally agree with you. That was my initial response to him, that it had nothing to do with me. I told him this was between them and had nothing to do with the lease. He keeps thinking that if I write up a new lease with just him on it that means he can kick his wife out. I told him it wouldn't matter if Mickey Mouse was on the lease he still can't kick out someone who has a legal right to be there. I never had this question come up so I put it out there but glad to hear the responses. Thanks
Quote from @Sylvia H.:
Got a strange one guys. I have a tenant who is married. Husband and wife both signed the lease. Wife is running around and not coming home for weeks at a time. Husband is fed up with her and wants to take her off the lease so he can kick her out. I told him his problem has nothing to do with his lease as she is a legal tenant there. Am I missing something? I can't see how I can change their lease mid way and also what difference it makes since she is a legal resident of the apartment. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? This community is awesome so thanks in advance.
This is super common, we deal with this multiple times per year- you simply have someone who wants to get rid of a roommate. The short answer is that there is zero benefit to you, and you could very likely find yourself in court if you try to do this. There are two possible secenarios (but I'd reccomend you just tell the husband, "sorry, but nope.")
-Scenario 1: Wife wants off the lease: You could do this as a favor, but if the husband defaults, you can't go after the wife for rent, which benefits her, not you.
-Scenario 2: She doesn't want off the lease: drop it there. She has the legal right to be on the lease and occupy the property when she wants and you have no legal reason to deny her that right.
They are having a personal problem that has nothing to do with you or your lease. Don't make it your problem. I see this all of the time with self managers- getting roped in to personal drama and tenants wanting to use their landlord and their lease to exact revenge on their friends and family. Just say no!
Quote from @Sylvia H.:So give him 'homework' to do if that's what he needs. Just say everyone on a contract has to sign to change a contract, so if he wants her off he needs to get her to agree and sign a lease termination. After that then you can sign a new lease with him. Chances are he can't get her to agree which is why he wants the new lease. So the final option you give him is that when the lease expires in XX months you'll non-renew and then you/he can renew without her on the lease.
Totally agree with you. That was my initial response to him, that it had nothing to do with me. I told him this was between them and had nothing to do with the lease. He keeps thinking that if I write up a new lease with just him on it that means he can kick his wife out. I told him it wouldn't matter if Mickey Mouse was on the lease he still can't kick out someone who has a legal right to be there. I never had this question come up so I put it out there but glad to hear the responses. Thanks
If all else fails just keep telling him when the lease expires you can work on it...
Quote from @Nathan Gesner:
This is not unusual. Don't get involved in personal disputes. If one of them wants to leave of their own volition, let them go but make sure it's documented and signed by all parties. You also want to verify the remaining tenant can afford the rent.
If he wants her gone but she doesn't want to leave, that's a personal matter that they can work through without your involvement. If it's causing you problems, give them a 30-day notice and tell them both to leave, then they can work out the problems somewhere else.
Agree 100% here! Personal problems are not yours to deal with. Good luck with this!
