Tenant is planning to Break Lease - Landlord Forum thread 359965

Tenant is planning to Break Lease by NC on November 20, 2019 @12:16

A married couple has been renting a house I own for a little over a year now - they renewed their annual lease in August.

The first week of October they paid rent and then out-of-the-blue texted me to tell me they'd just made an offer on a house and if everything went as planned, they would be moving out of the rental in mid Nov., wanted to do a walk-thru then & turn in the keys in order to get their security deposit back.

I sent a letter to them a few days later and thanked them for letting me know about their plans, congratulated them on possibly becoming homeowners and also reminded them of the lease agreement they just recently signed and are expected to comply with it, regardless of whether they physically live there or not. I also explained to that them breaking the lease, especially during the winter and the holidays, puts an added hardship on me as few people move during that time - it's a busy & expensive time of year for everyone in general, prospective tenants as well as myself. I told them I depend on the rent to pay the mortgage on that house, which they agreed to pay for a year when they signed the lease.

The rest of October went by & I didn't hear anything else from them, then they paid November rent. Good.

Two days ago they emailed me to say that the paperwork, etc. on their home purchase is done and they are "willing" to pay December rent "out of consideration" for me and my concerns and that it will also give them some extra time to move during the first half of December, but that they will be out Dec. 15th, want to do a walk-thru that day & turn in the keys.

They also said the lease states "Tenants will contact the owner 30 days in advance should any issue arise causing tenant to have to move out" and that they have given me more than sufficient notice. The lease does state that, but that rule was not intended to be a way for tenants to get out of the lease anytime they want, and it wasn't meant to as a way to terminate a lease. I included that rule for two reasons: 1) to help me know who is actually living there, as I've had tenant partners live there before then split up and one tenant move out though they're both still on the lease. And 2) because certain tenants, like military & domestic violence victims, are legally allowed to terminate a lease but should still inform LL 30 days in advance if possible, or as soon as they can. But my current tenants have apparently interpreted that rule as a way "out" of the lease and think they're doing nothing wrong.

So right now, I'm trying to figure out how to handle this and what to do next. Was it a mistake on my part to include that clause in the lease, and does it sound like it gives my tenants a justified "out"? If they move out in Dec. It is possible I may be able to have tenants in by Feb. 1st, though I'm not sure about that, but I definitely will not be able to have anyone in by Jan. 1st, maybe even the whole month, so I will definitely lose some (if not all) rent for January.

I welcome any input, advice or suggestions. Thanks in advance!

[ Reply ] [ Return to forum ]

Re: Tenant is planning to Break Lease by Garry on November 20, 2019 @18:00	[ Reply ]

First and foremost, tenants don't care WHAT a LL has for problems. You OWN the house. They only RENT it. To them, YOU are RICH, they are not. Now, they want to OWN something, too. They just bought a house, and there is nothing you can say or do to stop them from moving out. Yes, your "30 day " clause is open to interpretation. The Ts way is one way, and your way is another way. The only "real" interpretation, is by a judge. Do you want to go that route? If I were you, I would take out that clause in your future leases, as it could be interpreted the same way these Ts did, by future Ts, and possibly a judge. My suggestions: collect the full rent for Dec by Dec 5, if you can. Give them a 3 day notice to quit, if you don't get the full months rent. That should push them to be out asap. You would then have a legal reason to keep their deposit, for Dec.rent. Get the keys back from them when they do move out. Then begin to cleanup, repair damages, and rerent the place ASAP. Then ask yourself----- are you a greedy, grinchy, "oh woe is me" type LL, or do you want to feel proud of yourself, and congratulate them for becoming first time homeowners. Remember, you are a business owner, and as such, there are risks involved. So in this situation, let the Ts have their first home, eat the losses this time, and find new Ts asap.

Re: Tenant is planning to Break Lease

Re: Tenant is planning to Break Lease by AnonymousFL on November 25, 2019 @09:45	[ Reply ]

What you want to avoid is language in your lease that is open to interpretation. Your clause is open to interpretation and therefore, misunderstanding by people not familiar with contracts. You way read it as 'the tenant must inform the landlord if the tenant plans to move prior to the end of the lease', but it is easily interpreted as 'The tenant may move out if ANY issue arises'. I suggest you get rid of the clause ans spell out all of the other things you mentioned. I assume you are in NC. The law already states the following, so put it in your lease: "If the tenant receives permanent change of station orders to relocate at least 50 miles away, are prematurely or involuntarily discharged, or are released from active duty, your lease will terminate 30 days after the landlord receives the tenant's written notice. If tenant is being deployed for 90 days or more, after you landlord receives the written notice, the lease will terminate 30 days after the next rental payment is due, or 45 days after the landlord received the notice, whichever is shorter." If it is important enough to you that the tenant notify you, spell it out for them in details that cannot be interpreted. The one thing you have going for you is that the clause does not specifically state that the tenant is released from their liability. I would explain that in the offer letter to the tenants. Fortunately, it sounds like you know what you are doing as far as sending things in writing ina timely manner, spelling out the tenants legal missteps as well as their liabilities, etc, etc. If you do go to court, hopefully you do not go in front of a judge sympathetic to tenants. When you are in court, if things do not feel like they are going your way, I suggest a final offer of the tenant paying rent through the end of March. That gets you through winter and the amount will cover basic costs, utilities, and upkeep. You should about break even...and if you do rerent it, then return the difference to the ex-tenant and wash your hands of it.