Popular reasons for breaking a lease include job relocations, home buying, changing familial status, or military duty. It’s really important to handle the situation expertly and follow legal protocols.
Know and Follow the Law
When you and your tenant sign a lease, it’s vital to keep in mind that it’s a legally binding agreement. Having said that, it denotes that you both have certain rights and responsibilities governed by state landlord-tenant and other federal laws. These laws are in place to make certain that both you and your tenant are treated fairly. For a case in point, in certain states, landlords are responsible for ensuring that the rental property is in good condition and must give notice to the tenant prior to entering the property.
Failing to respect landlord-entry regulations or respecting your tenant’s privacy can be legal grounds for lease termination in quite a lot of states. Other reasons include military service, domestic violence, or uninhabitable property.
Lease Termination Clause
Including an early lease termination clause in your lease documents is a perfect practice for any landlord, even though it is not required. Such a clause can help clarify the process a tenant may follow to break their lease agreement. Usually, this includes putting forward a certain amount of advance notice, mostly 30 days, and perhaps paying an early termination fee. By having this clause in place, both the tenant and the landlord can avoid any confusion or clashes if the tenant needs to terminate the lease early.
A clause in your lease documents furnishes your tenant a way out if needed and warrants that you do not come upon financial hardship because of the broken lease.
After a Tenant Breaks a Lease
As a landlord, it’s basic to maintain cordial and respectful relationships with tenants, even if they happen to break the lease agreement. While it can be distressing when a tenant leaves before fulfilling their lease term, handling the situation skillfully and well is beneficial. In such cases, it’s advantageous to document the problem and initiate a dialogue with the tenant to resolve the matter and collect any outstanding dues.
It’s a helpful idea to ask your tenant if you can inspect the property before they leave. This will help you identify any repairs that the tenant may be held answerable for and what you need to do to get the property ready for a new tenant. As with any tenant, you should calculate any unpaid rent and the cost of repairs and deduct them from their security deposit. It is noteworthy to keep exhaustive documentation of everything.
Send your tenant a written reminder clearly delineating their legal obligations under the terms of your lease agreement and what will happen if they don’t undertake them. It’s commendable to send this notice by certified mail to establish a paper trail of your actions.
If you face a situation where your tenant is not paying the rent, you might have to go through a legal process to collect the owed rent and associated fees. This implicates filing a civil lawsuit with your local court. It is integral for you to show to the court that you have acted in a lawful and fair manner throughout the process, including all the succeeding actions you took to re-rent the property.
Hire a Professional Property Manager
One right direction to really make sure that your rental business is managed in a professional and legally compliant manner is by bringing in the services of a reliable property management company. Such a company can help you expertly navigate the complexities of property management and make sure that your rental property is managed nicely and transparently.
At Real Property Management Landmark, we competently work on your behalf in Hempstead and nearby to elicit helpful tenant relations and efficiently rectify unpredictable changes. Contact us online or call us at 516-522-2859 to realize more with regard to this and our other quality services.
Originally Published on April 1, 2022