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Moving out 3 months early - Landlord Forum thread 356137

Moving out 3 months early by Anonymous on February 11, 2018 @21:15

                              
My tenant is moving out 3 months early due to a corpporate transfer back to Japan.
He has notified me as stated in the lease, at least 45 days prior.
I plan on sending him a letter reminding him the full amount of the 1 year lease is due, which is the remaining 3 months of rent. I am using the standard LPA lease, fyi.
Do landlords typically charge the tenant for the cost of the utilities (gas & electric) throughout the remaining months?
Is this considered a cost to re-rent the unit?
If so, is it legal to deduct the cost of the utilities from the security deposit?
The cost estimate would be at least $500 if I turn gas & electric use way down.

Thanks in advance for your helpful feedback.
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Re: Moving out 3 months early by Garry (Iowa) on February 11, 2018 @21:49 [ Reply ]
If you get EXTREMELY lucky, either your tenant or his corporation may decide to pay you for the remaining months of the lease, and maybe for some of the utilities, too. But in REALITY, how are you going to collect from someone who moves to Japan ? You need to find out exactly what date he will be out. Then meet him there either that day, or the day before, to get the keys back, and go thru the unit. If he's out, and you have possession back, then change the locks, repair any damages, and start advertising it again, to get a renter asap. And, yes, you can charge for the utils that are now in your name for the remaining 3 months of the lease.

If your T was a super-good renter, he will pay you for breaking the lease. Otherwise, you get to keep his deposit, and you're on your own to get it rented again. You can charge anything you want to against his deposit, but unless he pays you before he leaves for Japan, don't expect to ever collect ANY money past his deposit. In your particular situation, don't get all bent-out-of-shape over the remaining 3 unpaid months of the lease. Life is too short to worry over certain things that are totally out of your control. Treat it as though he was on a M2M lease, and he gave you 45 days notice to move.
Re: Moving out 3 months early by Anonymous on February 12, 2018 @12:30 [ Reply ]
If the tenant is moving out of the country and you have no other persons or entity (such as the business) on the lease, you may as well just cut your loss.

The only leverage you have here is whether or not the tenant is a responsible person. Try and negotiate a price to break the lease. Be nice and cordial about it. I do not think you are out of line for making the heating of the unit a concern. Bring it up during the discussion and see what happens. Otherwise, plan on trying to rerent.

Trying to collect from people who cross state lines is difficult enough. Now you are talking another country. It really isn't going to be worth your time and effort. In the future, if you have a tenant with the same situation, request a cosigner (such as the business he is there for).

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