Before retiring for bed last Friday, my wife checked her phone and noticed the tenant had called her and left a message earlier in the evening. She said the number was not one the tenant had used before and from the background sound, it was probably a pay phone. Anyway, my wife said the tenant was saying she wants to terminate the lease the end of the month. She didn't give a reason, but only that she wanted to get out of the lease by then. I think it's evident to us why, but she didn't want to say it. She also said she was going over to a relatives house and would call us back, but never did.
The next day, my wife and I discussed the matter in detail after reading the Lease Agreement thouroughly and decided she could terminate the lease early under certain conditions. The Lease Agreement itself doesn't spell out specific damages if the tenant vacates early, but does have one very important clause: "all unpaid rents that are payable during the remainder of the lease or any renewal period will be accelerated without notice or demand". Of course, I highly doubt if we were to enforce this clause the tenant would ever pay us, so, instead, we used the clause as leverage for our conditions.
We sent the tenant a letter saying, basically, that she can vacate early, but that she would have to sign an attached agreement, which spelled out a list of conditions she would have to fulfil first. We included the clause above from the Lease Agreement, but said that we would overlook accelerating all the unpaid rent if she would read, sign, and return the Early Termination Agreement to us by this coming weekend.
Some of the things we asked of the tenant were:
(1) The tenant would have to be out on or before January 31st.
(2) The tenant would forfiet refund of all or any portion of the security deposit.
(3) The tenant would be responsible for disconnecting all utilities solely in her name, giving the utility companies her forwarding address, and paying all residual bills for the utilities when/if they are due.
(4) Give us a forwarding address.
(5) Pay us an additional sum as compensation for terminating the lease early on or before the date she vacates.
(6) The condition of the property will be the same as when she moved in, excluding NORMAL wear.
(7) On the date she is to fully vacate, do a final walk-thru with me to inspect the condition of the property, to give us all the keys, and to give us the additional compensation (if she hadn't already).
It will be interesting to see what happens now. I swung by there Sunday just to make sure she hadn't already 'up and left', and there was still signs of life. I half expect her to just leave one day before signing the agreement I sent, but who knows.
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2 comments:
At least she is honest and letting you know she needs to leave, rather than just staying there and not paying you.
My feelings exactly. I think she is getting tired of my wife calling her and asking her 100 questions about why the rent is late (not to mention it seems she just can't afford it). I told my wife if she just leaves without damaging the place, I'll be happy.
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