You’re in a tricky spot, and you’re right to tread carefully. A few thoughts based on experience and general legal principles (though of course, check with a local attorney for specifics in your jurisdiction):
1. Joint and Several Liability Still Applies
As long as the lease is in effect and all three tenants signed as jointly and severally liable, you can still hold the MIA tenant liable for rent and damages—even if they’ve gone silent. Their absence doesn’t automatically remove their obligations under the lease unless you formally release them or a court orders it.
2. Local Statute: "Not Absent While Rent Is Paid"
Your citation makes sense—since rent is being paid in full (or was), you likely can’t take unilateral steps to remove the MIA tenant just because they're not physically present. The statute is protecting tenants from being presumed to have abandoned the unit when others are still covering rent. So unless rent goes unpaid, or they voluntarily surrender their rights, you probably can't treat them as “absent” in the legal sense.
3. Eviction Options
If the remaining tenants can’t keep up with rent, then your remedy would be to proceed with an eviction for non-payment(not for abandonment). Unfortunately, this still leaves all three tenants jointly liable—so if you end up in court, the judgment could apply to the MIA tenant too.
4. Security Deposit Logistics
You're absolutely right to consider liability around the return of the deposit. If your lease says the deposit must be returned jointly, then issuing the check in all names (including the MIA tenant) is generally the safest route for you as the landlord. If the other roommates can’t reach the MIA tenant, it may be worth suggesting they file a small claims action against them, or they could sign an agreement that indemnifies you for releasing the deposit to just the two of them. That said, without some written and signed agreement from all parties, your best legal protection is to make the check out to all original tenants.
5. Removing the MIA Tenant from the Lease
There’s typically no way to “revoke” someone’s rights under the lease unless:
- You enter into a mutual termination or amendment signed by all parties, including the MIA tenant (which seems impossible here),
- You pursue eviction, which includes them, or
- The lease term naturally expires and you write a new lease with only the remaining tenants.
Unfortunately, ghosting doesn’t equate to legal abandonment—especially if rent is paid.
Next steps you might consider:
- Keep detailed records of communication attempts with the MIA tenant.
- Consider a notice to cure/pay or quit if rent lapses.
- Talk with a landlord-tenant attorney about how to proceed with the security deposit—especially if the lease is ending soon.
- If it comes to eviction, name all three tenants in the action, even the MIA one.
Good luck—this situation is more common than it should be, and clear documentation is your best friend here.
