All Forum Posts by: Rick Bassett

Me: I'm sorry to tell you that you don't qualify to rent our houses.
Her: What? For what reason?
Me: Your previous landlords did not give a good recommendation.
Her: Could you at least call & talk to me about this? I do have references. I do not think you understand our situation. That should not always be the case we've had a very rough time...
Me: There is no reason for me to call. We will not rent to you.
Her: I just think that's unfair & everyone should deserve a chance especially if you knew who we were. We have never destroyed a house our rent is always paid. All we are trying to do is just better our family by finding something that fits us. If you knew our circumstances I think you'd understand as well.
[After several more texts my husband agrees to meet and talk with her.]
Today when they met he told her what the landlords said and of course she denied everything. They were making it all up and she could prove it wasn't true. She spent 30 minutes trying everything she could to get him to change his mind, and finally ended with, "So you mean to tell me that you're not even going to give me a chance to prove myself? To prove that I'd be a good tenant?"

Amen! Happy ending for the kids, and for you. I really hope he gets his act together, but at least in the meantime the kids are safe and with family where they can grieve. That's just horrible. Whenever something like this happens, try to learn lessons. Is there anything you could have done differently or better? Doesn't sound like it in your case, but still doesn't hurt to try to learn from it. For instance, did you have emergency contacts on the lease? What would you have done if both had overdosed? Obviously DCF got involved, but did any older kids know your name and number and that they could call you in said emergency? Did you post your contact information where it was easily visible in the common area of the house in case of multifamily, or make sure neighbor had number in case of single family (sounds like this neighbor did have your number) - all good stuff for us to keep in mind. 

Forfeiting Security Deposit to break the lease is a bit of a problem if there is any damage to repair. You can't keep their money for breaking the lease, or you will be shy in the money needed to fix up the place.

It's better to call it a lease break fee and ask for it to be paid immediately when they ask to break the lease. Then If they damage the unit before moving out, then you can also keep some of their security deposit.

This is what I put in my lease:

In Minnesota, you can use the Security Deposit to pay for any money owed to the landlord, and you must send a letter to tenant within 21 days of taking back possession.

I ask lease breakers to pay my fee and only at that point I will start marketing and showing the property. They are on the hook for rent through the date the new tenants move in and I will pro-rate the last month if the move-in date is not the 1st.  I also will set expectations with them that it typically takes 45-60 days to get a good tenant in, and will also set expectations about how many days I expect to need for doing the turnover work.

The $500 is a fair compensation for needing to market the property and to do several showings.  

If they give plenty of warning - like 45 to 60 days, this works out pretty well for all parties and its a fair resolution.