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The questions you're asking have been answered many times over on this forum but the best advice is to sit down with a good real estate attorney in your area and have him/her go over your proposed lease, tailor it to suit your particular needs in your particular location and explain to you all the ramifications. That's the first basic step and is worth every penny.
There are thousands upon thousands of "what ifs" which you can address and learn about if and when they arise - but your first priority is a good, tailor-made lease.
Is there a landlord support group in your area? Many larger communities have them and they can be a great help.
My apologies. I haven't seen them.
If you don't mind me asking, what sort of tailor made items are addressed in your leases?
Quote:
Originally Posted by greyhorsewoman
You are expected to 'mitigate damages,' so sitting on your hands after a tenant moves out expecting he will be liable for the remainder of a lease is a big no-no.
Yes, I do know that (in post #1). Even if it is not required by law, it's the right thing to do.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by greyhorsewoman
The reality is, if a tenant violates your lease and moves out, it will be difficult to collect any more monies in many cases, no matter how 'right' you are or how well your lease is written. You should be out trying to get it released ASAP.
Agree that having a lawyer help write and approve your contract may go a long way in avoiding problems. However, your check list is pretty good. Better than we did many years ago. Ended up doing two evictions, got judgments of nearly $5,000 in both cases (back rent and damages to property). Guess how much we saw of that ... ZILCH, NATA, NOTHING.
Yeah, that's, basically, how I understand it works.
That is why I have come here with my questions. There are a great many seasoned landlords here that have very few problems and valuable information.
Quote:
Originally Posted by STT Resident
NO. Once you terminate a lease it's done with. You've achieved the purpose of the cure or quit, have demanded the tenant leave so of course you can't turn around and demand that he pay for the rest of the lease term.
A tenant can use this as a backdoor to get out of a lease with no consequences? Six months into a one year lease, the lessee can move in another inhabitant - violating the lease and refusing to remedy the violation. As a landlord, your choices are to terminate the lease without the lessee having any responsibility to pay rent until a suitable new lessee is found through the end of the lease (or let the lessee slide on the violation)? The cure injures the landlord and there is no recourse for the landlord?
If that is the case, this must be something that a landlords must deal with this frequently. If someone wants out of the lease, all they have to do is violate some provision therein.
I'm surprised that this wasn't suggested to the recent poster who was being forced to re-up his lease five months early.
If that is the case, this must be something that a landlords must deal with this frequently. If someone wants out of the lease, all they have to do is violate some provision therein.
To be honest, you're discussing a very specific issue but in a very generic sense.
Although the law may appear to be saying what you think it says, the reality is in most states, there is recourse for a landlord with a lease breach. It may be in the Landlord Tenant laws, it may be in the Commercial Code, it may be in Contract law, or it may have been established by case law. Without knowing the specific state(s) you're referencing, all anyone can do is guess as to what your rights as a landlord would be in a lease breach.
To stir the waters, most states allow for a landlord to recover damages in a lease breach. Knowing the proper structure of the law and how to take advantage of these options is where many landlords stumble.
To be honest, you're discussing a very specific issue but in a very generic sense.
Although the law may appear to be saying what you think it says, the reality is in most states, there is recourse for a landlord with a lease breach. It may be in the Landlord Tenant laws, it may be in the Commercial Code, it may be in Contract law, or it may have been established by case law. Without knowing the specific state(s) you're referencing, all anyone can do is guess as to what your rights as a landlord would be in a lease breach.
To stir the waters, most states allow for a landlord to recover damages in a lease breach. Knowing the proper structure of the law and how to take advantage of these options is where many landlords stumble.
I was repeating the information as I understood it. It seemed a bit fantastic that there was no remedy for a landlord should a breach by the other party happen.
I've read over the statute on landlord/tenant rights and the only thing that I found, I posted.
U mean if they defied the conditions of the lease didn't pay the rent trashed my place and in general made my life hell would I snitch to the new landlord??????
I was repeating the information as I understood it. It seemed a bit fantastic that there was no remedy for a landlord should a breach by the other party happen.
I've read over the statute on landlord/tenant rights and the only thing that I found, I posted.
How would this be handled in your area?
This is precisely why you need to get professional legal help and you can't expect to find that on a forum such as this. Respondents here can help lead you to applicable statutes and offer advice based on their own experiences but are in no position to give legal counsel.
I was repeating the information as I understood it. It seemed a bit fantastic that there was no remedy for a landlord should a breach by the other party happen.
In most cases, its because the law isn't a simple thing to understand. There many ways to look at this issue based on a specific leases and state laws, so without a specific state you have in mind, it would just be an insane exercise in trying to provide enough examples to make sense.
Hint: Does the law say you must give a 3 day Cure or Quit, or does it say you can give a 3 day Cure and/or Cure or Quit?
Hint: Does the law say a Quit under a Cure or Quit terminates the lease or just the violation that caused the notice?
Hint: When does the Quit in a Cure or Quit sunset?
OP, as others have said, you are being too literal and not understanding the application of the laws.
It's also important for you to know that the majority of landlord-tenant statutes were written to protect tenants from (then) unscrupulous landlords who believed in self-help evictions and violated the laws that existed more than honored them. I know this because I was involved with a CLE organization during the time of this proposed uniform L-T group of laws. It didn't become uniform across all states but the model presented is the basis for many, if not most. As such, those statutes, written by lawyers trying to stop the abuses, are frequently referred to as the Tenants' Bill of Rights; meaning that they are mostly slanted towards the tenants.
Others have given you specific advice concerning your specific questions. You don't seem to want to accept that certain things will not go your way: specifically an ability to punish a tenant for violating/breaking one of your rules or a section of your future contract/lease. Your thinking is one of the reasons the L-T statutes were written favoring tenants.
I strongly urge you to follow the above advice and consult with a r/e lawyer in your state. AND I further suggest you hire a property management company who will not bring emotions into the contract - either in the writing or adherence.
.........For example, the tenant moves in another person or takes on a pet. You give them a notice to remedy the situation and they do not and, instead, choose to move. Are they still on the hook for the remainder of the (mitigated) lease and any other penalties?............
This is going to depend upon what you put in your notice. I wouldn't give a cure or quit notice for a dog or extra person. I would give a 72 hour notice to cure a breach of the rental agreement. It would say to get rid of the dog or extra person within 72 hours or I would start the eviction proceedings.
There is nothing in that that gives the tenant the option of keeping the dog, moving out, and not paying the rent. So, if they move out without proper notice, they are on the hook for the balance of the lease, or whatever your state law allows, which often isn't the entire balance of the lease.
If you take a tenant to court and get an eviction, they will not owe you for the balance of the lease. A judge will not allow you to charge rent for a place you refuse to allow them to live in.
If you give a cure or quit, or a pay or quit, and the tenant decides to quit, then no, they don't owe the balance of the lease. You gave them the option to leave and they did. Your idea. You offered to let them go.
For non-payment of rent, it is going to depend upon what state you live in. Even though we all call it a "Pay or quit", in some states, it is a pay or get taken to court, with nothing about "quit".
Some advice, though: if you have a problem tenant and they move out, you won. Clean up and try for a better tenant. The one who left will owe you for back rent and for clean up and damage. You might be able to get them for breach of lease and for more rent, but no guarantee that you will actually collect any of the money. You might have to settle for being glad they are gone.
I did find one provision in the state statutes that deals with this:
I have yet to find anything that indicates that the tenant is still responsible for the remainder of the lease. I assume that this could be dealt with in the lease itself. Something to the verbiage of:
"Should the tenant act in a manner as to breach the term of the lease, the tenant will still be responsible for the remainder of the lease period if the tenant chooses to not remedy the breach within 5 days of receipt of the notice."
Yes?
Quote:
Originally Posted by STT Resident
NO. Once you terminate a lease it's done with. You've achieved the purpose of the cure or quit, have demanded the tenant leave so of course you can't turn around and demand that he pay for the rest of the lease term.
Agreed. If they are willfully violating the lease, you just want them gone, in most cases. And in most cases, someone who is willing to injure their rental history in order to break their lease instead of following the guideline you lay out in your lease for the procedure to break the lease, isn't someone you are going to be able to collect against anyway. In our lease, it has a lease break penalty equal to 2 months' rent.
But I agree, in most cases, if they are violating the lease or not paying rent and you give them a 3 day notice to pay/cure or quit, and they quit, you can only collect for time that they were there, and any damage that they did. Hopefully, you have enough deposit to cover that, because you usually will not see any more from them.
Also, something to be aware of is that not all areas actually have much in the way of rental law. Idaho, for instance, says practically nothing IN LAW about the rental process. The attorney general has a set of guidelines they update periodically, based on court findings, but there is practically nothing written in law. So it isn't always as simple as looking up what the law says about a given situation. I suggest you find a good rental attorney for your area so you can ask questions when odd situations come up.
I suggest you find a good rental attorney for your area so you can ask questions when odd situations come up.
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