please advice - Landlord Forum thread

please advice by Goethe1749 (MA) on October 30, 2009 @23:08

I am a landlord of a two beds apartment in Massachusetts. The lease agreement between us formally ended in April, 2010. The tenant sent me an email saying that he would like to end the lease as soon as possible due to personal issues. I, mistakably (and really regret for that), told him by mail that I would like to work something out which will not require him to complete the rent until the end. Furthermore, I only asked to receive the rent fee for the next two months .The tenant wrote by mail that he agree to do so. After three weeks I understood that I made a mistake with my proposal, and it will cause me a significant financial demege. I sent him a mail telling him about the demege and asked him to work with me to find an amicable solution. He answered that we already have an agreement. Can I sue him for either breaking a lease or the demege I might have if I do not find another tenant? Do the mail we have exchanged hold in court? What should I do? At this stage can I sue him?

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Re: please advice by MassLL (MA) on October 30, 2009 @23:18

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When a contract is broken, the law requires that you mitigate your damages. In the case of a tenant breaking a lease, that means you have to mitigate your damages by finding a new tenant.

Even if you can't find a tenant, the court would likely award you only 2 months rent from your current tenant, even without the emails.

It is also likely that the emails will hold up in court.

You won't get any money by suing your current tenant. You need to keep lookin for a new tenant.

Re: please advice by RestlessKnight (NJ) on October 31, 2009 @06:06	[ Reply ]
Never go back on your word, I'm disappointed in you.

Re: please advice by Anonymous on October 31, 2009 @13:01

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Sue him for what? He wanted to break your first agreement, the lease, but didn't tryng to find out if you guys could make a new agreement. You proposed new agreement of 2 months rent and let him out of rest of lease, canceling the old agreement. Tenant accepted and FULFILLED the new agreement. You can only sue if tenant breaks the new agreemnt. Besdides, as said above, even if you hand't made this new agreement the court would probably only award you 2 months rent since as court sees it you should be able to find someone else to rent in that time frame.