Tenant is Vacating - Landlord Forum thread

Tenant is Vacating by Rebecca (Virginia) on February 9, 2012 @22:03

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We have six month leases with our tenant in the house that we rent. He signed a renewal of the rental agreement on the 17th of January [very late, but still signed], and on the 30th, we recieved a call letting us know that he is moving. He doesn't want to pay the rent for the remainder of the lease, as it is specified [it states he is to pay rent until either a new approved tenant is found or the lease expires, which ever is shorter]. What can I do if he refuses to pay these rents. He is already behind, and we have been nice due to his loss of a job that got him behind financially, but we are worried that he will not continue to pay the rent as stated in the lease. We are not experts at renting, we have simply one house that we just want to keep occupied [empty houses do not fair well]. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what we can do if he does not pay his rent after he vacates?

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Re: Tenant is Vacating by OK-LL on February 9, 2012 @23:37	[ Reply ]

Start now by reading the LL-Tenant law for your state. You can post the pay or quit notice immediately (so you can still find him in your rental when you serve the court summons in a few days), since he is already in arrears on the rent. If he doesn't pay up by the end of the p/q period, you will file for eviction and money judgment. At the very least, this will get you a judgment for the delinquent rent. In the alternative, you can just wait for him to move out and then make your best effort to re-lease the rental; then sue him for the lost rent, including the delinquent rent he already owes. The difficulty with this approach is finding him to personally serve the court summons. If you know where he works and that's unlikely to change when he moves, you should be alright to serve him at work and therefore, I would take this approach as it will give you a larger judgment.

Re: Tenant is Vacating by Anonymous on February 10, 2012 @00:40	[ Reply ]

If he does not have a job you will most likely never be able to garnish his wages. Once he moves if you don't know where he gets a job at you will never collect. I would start with the eviction process now but I would tell him if he leaves the place clean and undamaged and gets caught up on the rent he currently owes then you will not hold him to the remainder of the lease. Odds are you won't get that money anyhow so why not get what you are currently owed and let him move on.

Re: Tenant is Vacating

Re: Tenant is Vacating by Anonymous on February 10, 2012 @14:21	[ Reply ]

Id let this one leave. its cheaper than evicting him for non payment. Start shopping for a new tenant and stay in the property t night if you are that concerned about property crime. Here, landlords often park a car outside of vacant properties to make it look as though they are occupied but its not a sure bet that your pipes wont be ripped out for scrap.