 Broken Lease (by Karren Gable [TX]) Feb 27, 2012 7:48 AM
 Broken Lease (by S i d [MO]) Feb 27, 2012 8:36 AM
Broken Lease (by gevans [SC]) Feb 27, 2012 8:52 AM
Broken Lease (by Virden [OH]) Feb 27, 2012 9:12 AM
Broken Lease (by Wallace CPM [VA]) Feb 27, 2012 9:39 AM
Broken Lease (by NC Investor [NC]) Feb 27, 2012 11:11 AM
Broken Lease (by Karren Gable [TX]) Feb 27, 2012 12:32 PM
Broken Lease (by Karren Gable [TX]) Feb 27, 2012 12:32 PM
Broken Lease (by Reid [KS]) Feb 27, 2012 12:48 PM
Broken Lease (by Wallace CPM [VA]) Feb 27, 2012 1:28 PM
Broken Lease (by BRAD 20,000 [IN]) Feb 27, 2012 1:35 PM
Broken Lease (by Karren Gable [TX]) Posted on: Feb 27, 2012 7:48 AM
Message:
State Specific Question About: TEXAS (TX)
Our tenant broke his lease and has a year and 1/2 left. He had signed a four year lease due to his daughter going to college near by. How would I go about trying to get at least part of the money on the lease? Or, do I just turn it into the Credit Bureau ? We have never had a tenant not complete their lease. Thanks for your help!! --71.164.xxx.xx |
Broken Lease (by S i d [MO]) Posted on: Feb 27, 2012 8:36 AM
Message:
Define "broke his lease." Did he just move out? Has he not paid this month's rent? How many month's behind on rent? What does your lease say about early termination?
You cannot just report someone to the credit bureau until you have obtained a judgment against them for a debt. This involves going to court. Expensive, risky, time-consuming, and if you don't know what you're doing you need to hire a lawyer who specializes in evictions. Otherwise you risk doing it wrong and having to start all over from scratch.
I like the 'carrot' or 'stick' approach to these kinds of situations.
If your tenant has a decent credit report and/or assets like bank accounts or real estate, you can apply pressure (i.e. the 'stick') letting him know that you will obtain a judgment and report him to the credit bureau. Don't talk about seizing assets or garnishing wages at this time since that might warn him enough to start hiding his income elsewhere. This threat might motivate him to pay you for a month or two in exchange for getting out of any remaining obligations. This is known as an ELT (early lease termination). This also keeps both of you out of court and preserves his credit (i.e. the 'carrot').
If he's a broke, paycheck to paycheck deadbeat with no assets, save your time, stress and money and just clean and re-rent. You might have to still go thru normal eviction procedures, though, depending on what your state's laws say. If he has not returned possession to you by handing over the keys, you will likely have to evict or prove abandonment. --208.70.xxx.x |
Broken Lease (by gevans [SC]) Posted on: Feb 27, 2012 8:52 AM
Message:
Is a 4 year lease legal in TX?
Just asking... some states yes, others no. --141.129.x.xx |
Broken Lease (by Virden [OH]) Posted on: Feb 27, 2012 9:12 AM
Message:
First thing is recover the unit and photo the damages so you can process the accounting of the deposit, if they gave 30 days notice you should already be saving energy to do this part, find those move-in photos so you can compare to these move-out ones you will be taking, next is repair and rerent.
If you have enough deposit left after repairs then add 1 or 2 months depending on how your court acts on these lease drop-outs, seldom can you recover more than 2 months rent. Actually getting paid can be tough sometimes, any lease longer than 12 months is unusual with residential housing - commercial places go with the 24, 36, 48 month with option. --76.241.xxx.xx |
Broken Lease (by Wallace CPM [VA]) Posted on: Feb 27, 2012 9:39 AM
Message:
Re-rent the property ASAP and then sue for the difference - you need to "mitigate" their damages and re-rent --184.2.xx.xxx |
Broken Lease (by NC Investor [NC]) Posted on: Feb 27, 2012 11:11 AM
Message:
Our ELT requires 30 days written notice, forfeiture of security deposit and two months rent. This way I am assured 4 months of rent assuming there are 4 months or more remaining on the lease.
If your lease does not have an ELT policy then your options are somewhat limited. You have to make a reasonable effort to rent (a duty to mitigate) the property. Most standard leases (and most courts) will allow you to charge rent for the time it stood vacant along with the costs to advertise it and charges to restore the property to your standard rental condition.
I also question the validity of a 4 year lease. Most contracts that extend beyond 3 years must be recorded to be enforceable. You should check that out especially if you end up taking it to court.
--173.188.xxx.xxx |
Broken Lease (by Karren Gable [TX]) Posted on: Feb 27, 2012 12:32 PM
Message:
Thank you NC Investor. This is a house not an apartment and was rented thru the proper channels of Texas realty by a realtor. I just found in the lease where it says, tenant will be liable for any lost rent, the cost of reletting the property but not limited to leasing fees,advertising fees,utility charges & other fees necessary to relet the property.It goes on to say other things in our favor that we may be entitled to by the law. I guess I should have read this last page a little more closer and they also loose their $1200.00 deposit. Thanks alot for your help. --71.164.xxx.xx |
Broken Lease (by Karren Gable [TX]) Posted on: Feb 27, 2012 12:32 PM
Message:
Thank you NC Investor. This is a house not an apartment and was rented thru the proper channels of Texas realty by a realtor. I just found in the lease where it says, tenant will be liable for any lost rent, the cost of reletting the property but not limited to leasing fees,advertising fees,utility charges & other fees necessary to relet the property.It goes on to say other things in our favor that we may be entitled to by the law. I guess I should have read this last page a little more closer and they also loose their $1200.00 deposit. Thanks alot for your help. --71.164.xxx.xx |
Broken Lease (by Reid [KS]) Posted on: Feb 27, 2012 12:48 PM
Message:
You can sue in Small claims court to see how much the court will require the tenant to live up to on the lease. It's often not more than a month or two. --108.220.xxx.xxx |
Broken Lease (by Wallace CPM [VA]) Posted on: Feb 27, 2012 1:28 PM
Message:
Account for the deposit within the TX time frame * re-rent the property * send a demand letter for your expenses OVER the deposit * give them 10 day to pay and if they do not - sue --184.2.xx.xxx |
Broken Lease (by BRAD 20,000 [IN]) Posted on: Feb 27, 2012 1:35 PM
Message:
Ya'll have yer own set of rules in TX, but my state will not let me just "take" or "forfeit" their deposit. It must be accounted against actual damages, physical or financial.
Another case for ...ELT! Solving lease problems left and right!
Overall, blood from a stone. Work something out. You can be right all day long and never see a penny.
Do a thorough move out, deposit settlement sheet as required by law, and a payment plan for a negotiated balance. --50.129.xxx.xxx |
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