Breaking lease (apartment, tenant, eviction, renter)

[blgmdcnd]

Hi -- My tenant, who has been late paying rent and has given checks with non sufficient funds, had casually mentioned two weeks ago that she might be leaving. I told her that she signed a two year lease in January 2008 and thus she would be responsible for the lease unless she gave at least two month's notice. She did not give me a notice. Today, after not receiving payment for August, I contacted her and asked. She comes back a few minutes ago and tells me that she is vacating on the 16th of August, that is in a couple of weeks!!!! What am I to do? She owes the late fees (she paid July's rent on July 30th) and gave me two bad checks (two fees from my bank).

What protections do landlords have? Is there a way to have a collection agency go after the non payment? I know there is no way on earth that I will find a tenant for September 1st. She even told me that I can't show the condo until the 17th!!

Please, I don't know what to do. The condo is in Montgomery county, MD.

Thank you.

[ESFP]

One trouble is that she'll be hard to find after she moves. She'll use a maiden name, husband's name, boyfriend... I know the type. You need to contact an attorney, as these laws change constantly and I couldn't give you the best advise for the moment. You will win in court, which I would recommend you do. She will have a judgement, which will make it tough for her to get credit or another good apartment in her name. Start documenting everything. Look professional.

[MDNative]

Yes this happens all the time. Unfortunately, there are tenants who tend to make lightly of rental agreements signed with private landlords, but it is still a binding contract. Ill echo the poster before me by advising you to quickly consult with an attorney and take her to court. And Ill add to let the tenant know via LETTER that you will be taking legal action against her, should she violate the terms of her lease.

[austin-steve]

Please, I don't know what to do.

This may sound harsh, but if you don't know what to do you should hire a professional property manager before renting again. It is imperative, as a landlord, that you know instantly and in advance what you will do when your tenant fails to comply with the lease.

I never talk to tenants. Conversation is worse than worthless, it's counterproductive, as your tale illustrates. I send written notices. When a tenant doesn't pay, you issue a late notice followed soon after by an eviction notice, and you have them out by the end of the month.

The only value in having conversation is to let the tenant know that the process has started that will result in them being evicted and having ruined credit, and that the only thing that will halt that process is full payment, in cash or money order, of all amounts due. Promises, stiories, tears, etc. do not stop the process. Only full payment.

Something happens when you run your landlording business this way (and it is a business, not a social service) which is that few evictions actually occur. Instead, the tenant gets the message that you are a serious landlord and they straighten up or leave, real quick. Either way, you don't end up out of pocket three months rent with them still in the property.

At the stage you've allowed this to reach, you should hire an attorney and let the attorney take over dealing with the tenant. Once you get the tenant out, hire a property manager or educate yourself on how to be a landlord and you wno't let it go this far again.

Good luck!

Steve

Anything less is amature landlording.

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by blgmdcnd

What protections do landlords have?

Thank you.

\

Just a comment...

Your three biggest protections as I see it:

Know the Landlord/Tenant Law in your jurisdiction

Act promptly and in writing concerning rental agreement/lease violations

Tenant's Security Deposit

[aaauger]

Your cheapest course of action is to go to court (small claims court if possible) and get a judgement. 1) That goes against the renter's credit record. 2) There are recourses for collecting a judgement.

The problem with using a credit collector is that there are laws that can prevent them from calling. The problem with paying a lawyer send a threatening letter is that it rarely works. A letter from a court may be enough to resolve this.

[arual1]

I would have taken all the insufficient funds from her checks as a warning sign. I could understand maybe one time in the course of a year or so. If she is sending bad checks on more than one occasion in a short amount of time that is saying a lot about the type of person that she is. To me its saying she is irresponsible, can't handle her finances, and doesn't seem to concerned with ensuring her rent is on time. I have never been late with a payment in three years to my landlord, but recently I informed her I was moving in a month, when I told her I wanted reasonable notice before the apartment being shown, she said that I could just move out. My landlord doesn't care anything about the personal its all business to her. It sounds like maybe you were a little lenient on your tenant. I would go find an attorney, where I am there is a free legal aid office and they can advise you on what you can do, and assist you if you need to go to court.

[Sergio M]

It's evident that you do not properly screen your tenants prior to accepting their lease. Run their credit, it tells a story about someone's payment history. Austin- Steve is right on. Hire a Realtor to find yourself a qualified tenant and move forward.

[okaydorothy]

Let her leave ; you dont need that kind of tenant. Be glad that she is leaving.

It will probably take a month or two to get a new tenant. You also do not want to annoy her so much that she damages the condo.

d

[teachbeach]

You can send the outstanding payments to collections, but they'll keep a good chunk of the recovered (if it is) money. Might want to go the lawyer route or small claims. Contact the attorney general in your state (usually in the capitol city). You also need to have a strict policy of time payments, late fees, paying in cash or money order if a check bounces and doing a thorough credit report before renting. Also, for pete's sake find out how much you can charge for security; some states you can charge up to 2 months rent as a security deposit and get 1st and last months rent in addition~before you give the tenant the keys.