Various Options For When A Tenant Breaks The Lease Agreement

It can be a stressful experience when your tenant moves out, even before his / her lease is up. However, such scenarios can be avoided if landlords take pains over writing out the lease agreement. When a tenant breaks a lease, it means he / she has vacated the rental property before the lease has expired. Take for example, if a tenant takes your property and signs a lease for one-year, but leaves after six or seven months, this is considered to be lease breaking. As well, if your tenant fails to follow the terms of the lease agreement, it also amounts to breaking it. The following tips should be helpful in assisting landlords in the handling of a broken lease agreement.

When sitting down to write a lease agreement, always imagine the worst case scenario. Write it out, totally prepared for a tenant to break it. Even as you hope for a problem-free tenancy, prepare for the worst and be ready to protect yourself.

You should first specify in the lease, what will happen, in the event the tenant breaks the terms of the lease. It should be made clear it is the responsibility of the tenant to find someone to take over their lease, before they will be free of their legal obligations under the agreement. This will protect against lost income resulting from a broken lease and vacant rental property.

State what action will be taken if the tenant breaks the lease without finding a replacement for him / herself. You could also emphasise the defaulting tenant will forfeit his / her security deposit to make up for the income you stand to lose because they did not keep up their end of the bargain. Usually, security deposits are equivalent to one month’s rent and may not fully cover the rest of the lease term. However, something is better than no payment at all.

The lease should contain a clause to the effect that the lease agreement is legally binding and the tenant will be taken to the small claims court if he / she leaves before it is up, in order to make up for lost income. This should discourage any tenant from breaking the terms of their lease.

In case, a tenant vacates without giving you notice, you are entitled to the security deposit as per the lease agreement, and if you wish to take him / her to the small claims court, you might find it difficult to track them down. In this case, get on to finding a replacement tenant even as you seek to enforce the terms of the lease agreement with your former tenant.

However, there are times that tenants have no option but to vacate before their lease is up. Job transfers are valid reasons and all a landlord can do in such a case is to request them to find someone willing to take over their lease. It is in a landlord’s interest also to try and find a new tenant to replace the outgoing one.

If neither of you are able to find a replacement, you may insist the tenant pay up for the rest of the lease term or till a suitable tenant is found. Whether, a landlord wishes to take action to enforce the payments or release the tenant from his / her legal obligations, is up to him / her.

And, if a landlord wishes to evict a tenant for breaking some other terms of the agreement, it is a good idea to first send them a notice saying they have not kept faith, or else get someone to mediate between the two of you. Eviction should be the last step and taken only if all else fails.

In order to avoid tenant problems, enlist the services of reliable and to be trusted www.e-renter.com to screen prospective tenants and carry out background checks on them before you sign a lease agreement with them.