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My husband said he will go after her in court, and yes I explained to him that its usually a headache.
Well, from now on, I think it is best to get her rent money in the form of a check, in case she does skip out, we will have her most recent account info .I have her work info, SS#, all the other pertinent data. Just planning for the worst.
Look on the bright side. About a year down the road you get to tell your husband "I told you so".
I talked to my husband and told him all the great information and advice I received here, and he is livid about breaking her lease to a 1 yr.Hes the kind of person who always keeps a promise, and believes that a contract is binding, etc. He needs time to cool off. If we do decide to be "mean" and tell her no, how would you phrase the letter, just curious? The one I wrote initially I was told by everyone here sounds too mean and full of BS anyways, lol.I just want her to know that if she tries to leave and break her lease down the line without our consent, that there will be leagl action taken, that she is still liable for rent.How would you phrase the letter? Of course I will talk to her but I want a letter for record keeping.Thanks everyone, you all have been so helpful
Dont write a letter. No letter is needed. She didn't 'officially' try to break a lease. When she gives you an official 30 day notice to move out, only then will she be telling you that she is going to be breaking the lease. Anything else is speculation.
If she gives you 30 day notice, THEN you start looking for a new renter right away.
If she moves out before a new renter is found, then you continue to charge her for rent each month on the due date. If she doesn't pay it, then you sue her for it. There is no reason to write her a letter telling her this , as the law already allows this and you dont need any written proof of telling her the existing law.
If you don't find a new renter until 2 months after she leaves, then you sue her for 2 months rent. If you win the lawsuit, then either she pays you the 2 months rent or you get a judgement and then can report it to the credit bureas. You cannot report to credit bureaus until you get a judgement.
You must advertise/attempt to rerent. As soon as a new renter is found, you cannot charge her any more rent. If you don't attempt to re-rent to someone else, then you cannot sit back and charge her rent each month. Google "mitigate damages landlord "for more info.
Remember...no letter. You already have the signed 2 year lease. It's in place. A letter isn't going to change anything other than make her upset.
I talked to my husband and told him all the great information and advice I received here, and he is livid about breaking her lease to a 1 yr.Hes the kind of person who always keeps a promise, and believes that a contract is binding, etc. He needs time to cool off. If we do decide to be "mean" and tell her no, how would you phrase the letter, just curious? The one I wrote initially I was told by everyone here sounds too mean and full of BS anyways, lol.I just want her to know that if she tries to leave and break her lease down the line without our consent, that there will be leagl action taken, that she is still liable for rent.How would you phrase the letter? Of course I will talk to her but I want a letter for record keeping.Thanks everyone, you all have been so helpful
I guess I still don't understand the problem. In your area is it that hard to rent a place? Is this place that bad that no one wants to rent it? It sounds like you have to have this place rented to make things work for you financially. You and your husband have to realize that your financial problems are not your renters problems. If you and your husband were in a similar position and had the chance to buy your own home, would you wait the time out or buy the home? When we bought our home we also had a 1 year lease in place. We had signed in May for another year and found out in August that we were in the market for a home. At the time we had planned on waiting another year. Our management company did not force us to pay rent until May of the next year. We did pay a bit more to get out of the lease. Within the month they had rented the apartment again to another family. No problem.
As far as moving in on a date other than the 1st, most places prorate the rent for the following month or something similar. In your renters case, with a move in date on the 7th, she would pay full month on move in and 23 days of rent on the next month lets say.
In one post you mentioned that she is paying more than market rent, it seems from your other posts that you have to have someone paying more than market to keep things afloat. Call your self lucky to find someone that will pay more. I don't know if that will be the case with another renter. Since you are renting your place and need a larger place anyway, I would still consider selling this unit and getting rid of the headache. What you need is a home that you can afford with out the problems a renter provides. I just do not see it as a business that you both should be in.
My husband said he will go after her in court, and yes I explained to him that its usually a headache.
Well, from now on, I think it is best to get her rent money in the form of a check, in case she does skip out, we will have her most recent account info .I have her work info, SS#, all the other pertinent data. Just planning for the worst.
What does having her account info do for you? Do you really think you can get money out of her account unilaterally?
You and your husband are the perfect example why homeowners shouldn't casually become landlords. You think you can stick an ad on Craigslist or wherever, write some halfway decent lease document up and then just sit back and collect rent checks without any regard for whether you've done any of this properly or legally. Then when the tenant, whose life you think you can control because you graciously allow them to live in your rental, approaches you with an issue you get all indignant and threatening.
What's so hard about being decent people, talking this over with your tenant and working out an accommodation that gets them out when they want to be out and gives you time to re-rent without you needing to bilk more cash out of them? You have already acknowledged you're getting more than market, so why be greedy? Smart business people try to be reasonable with each other and their customers. It's only when that fails that contract enforcement through the courts should be necessary.
Unfortunately my prediction is you're going to p**s off your tenant, who is likely going to make your life miserable until they break the lease with little notice. Considering how badly you've fouled this up up to this point, I wouldn't count on a lawsuit after this happens on being a slam dunk in your favor. Collecting a judgment even if you do win is never a guarantee either. Its much better to try to avoid that route, rather than rely on it.
Dont write a letter. No letter is needed. She didn't 'officially' try to break a lease. When she gives you an official 30 day notice to move out, only then will she be telling you that she is going to be breaking the lease. Anything else is speculation.
If she gives you 30 day notice, THEN you start looking for a new renter right away.
If she moves out before a new renter is found, then you continue to charge her for rent each month on the due date. If she doesn't pay it, then you sue her for it. There is no reason to write her a letter telling her this , as the law already allows this and you dont need any written proof of telling her the existing law.
If you don't find a new renter until 2 months after she leaves, then you sue her for 2 months rent. If you win the lawsuit, then either she pays you the 2 months rent or you get a judgement and then can report it to the credit bureas. You cannot report to credit bureaus until you get a judgement.
You must advertise/attempt to rerent. As soon as a new renter is found, you cannot charge her any more rent. If you don't attempt to re-rent to someone else, then you cannot sit back and charge her rent each month. Google "mitigate damages landlord "for more info.
Remember...no letter. You already have the signed 2 year lease. It's in place. A letter isn't going to change anything other than make her upset.
Agree with all except the credit bureau part. Individuals can't report each other to credit bureaus. Can you imagine the chaos that would create? If the OP got a judgment, depending on the court the judgment may appear on the tenant's credit report as a public record item. But that depends on the state. In PA, for example, landlord tenant cases are normally heard in the District Courts, which are not courts of record and therefor don't get reported to the bureaus.
Agree with all except the credit bureau part. Individuals can't report each other to credit bureaus. Can you imagine the chaos that would create? If the OP got a judgment, depending on the court the judgment may appear on the tenant's credit report as a public record item. But that depends on the state. In PA, for example, landlord tenant cases are normally heard in the District Courts, which are not courts of record and therefor don't get reported to the bureaus.
Go to mrlandlord dot com. Landlords have a Q and A area on that site and it's used often. Tons of very interesting landlord info in that forum. It's quite informative.
On that forumn it has been mentioned many times about reporting tenants to credit bureaus. I think they even explain how it's done.
On that same site, they have a 'services' section where you can perform a credit check on a tenant or report tenant to credit bureau. Here is the link MR LANDLORD, rental forms, training, credit checks
Last edited by sware2cod; 07-14-2013 at 06:26 PM..
Go to mrlandlord dot com. Landlords have a Q and A area on that site and it's used often. Tons of very interesting landlord info in that forum. It's quite informative.
On that forumn it has been mentioned many times about reporting tenants to credit bureaus. I think they even explain how it's done.
On that same site, they have a 'services' section where you can perform a credit check on a tenant or report tenant to credit bureau. Here is the link MR LANDLORD, rental forms, training, credit checks
Getting a little off topic, but I will admit I'm not a lawyer or other expert but I took a look at that site and I'm not clear if they mean that the landlord himself can make the report or if they mean the item will show up as a result of the judgment. I do see where the site offers negative reporting as a service. Wow. I'd be very careful about using such a service, the FCRA is a serious law that can be easily violated. Look at the stuff they require in the agreement PDF. I doubt any non commercial landlord could meet those requirements. The landlord would also have to be prepared to deal with disputes and keeping the report up to date. For example, if the tenant pays the judgment and the LL forgets to update the CRAs, that's a violation of the FCRA requirement to provide accurate information. The tenant could then sue the landlord. Seems like a minefield for someone like our OP.
It's an interesting topic we could probably discuss more, but probably off topic for this thread.
[quote=sware2cod;30483099]Dont write a letter. No letter is needed. She didn't 'officially' try to break a lease. When she gives you an official 30 day notice to move out, only then will she be telling you that she is going to be breaking the lease. Anything else is speculation.
But she's awaiting a reply from me regarding her request, how would you answer her or what would you write?
But she's awaiting a reply from me regarding her request, how would you answer her or what would you write?
Dear tenant,
Best of luck in your search and effort to purchase a home of your own.
We'll be happy to change the current lease to ONE year as requested;
all other terms, conditions and so forth remaining as previously agreed to.
A simple lease addendum to this effect will be prepared and ready to sign by mid week.
Please keep us informed of your progress, provide as much advance notice as possible if/when you
are ready to go to contract and specifically no less than X days in writing for a departure date.
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