Re: SiIlly question - please help!! - Landlord Forum thread 348886

Re: SiIlly question - please help!! by Garry on October 23, 2016 @00:54

Do not EVER sign a 3 year lease !! There is nothing you as a LL will gain from it. Commercial leases are signed for 3-15 year terms, but NEVER residential leases. You don't know that T from Adam. If you don't like how they are living, for any reason, you may not be able to get rid of them til the end of the lease. 1 year is plenty long for a residential lease. I own 20 homes I rent out, and have been a LL for 36 years. I used to sign 1 year leases. But starting 8 years ago, ALL my leases are now month to month, starting from day 1. I want the ability to get rid of a T fairly quickly, by giving them a 30 day notice to move, if they are not living the way they should. I currently have 4 tenants that have been with me for 10-19 years. We haven't signed a lease together for years. Your Ts can sign a 1 year lease, and keep signing them a year at a time, and be there for 10 years if they wish. Just don't let those $$$ signs cloud your common sense. Even with built-in rent increases each year, you as a LL lose too much control over a T when you sign a long lease. Besides, if something happens in that T's life that they need to break their lease, your "peace of paper" you signed is not going to stop them from not paying rent, or moving out. And very likely your state LL/T laws say you must MITIGATE damages if they move out early. That means you must try to rerent the place asap if the T moves out at, say, 20 months into your 3 year lease. You would not be able to let the property set vacant for the remaining 16 months and expect a judge to award you rent money for those 16 months from your former T.

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