Reasons2BreakLease (by Ray-N-Pa [PA]) Oct 17, 2017 4:34 PM
Reasons2BreakLease (by NE [PA]) Oct 17, 2017 5:14 PM
Reasons2BreakLease (by AllyM [NJ]) Oct 17, 2017 5:27 PM
Reasons2BreakLease (by BRAD 20,000 [IN]) Oct 17, 2017 8:46 PM
Reasons2BreakLease (by Robert J [CA]) Oct 18, 2017 12:52 AM
Reasons2BreakLease (by rentON [PA]) Oct 18, 2017 2:57 AM
Reasons2BreakLease (by WMH [NC]) Oct 18, 2017 4:13 AM
Reasons2BreakLease (by Ken [NY]) Oct 18, 2017 4:51 AM
Reasons2BreakLease (by Ray-N-Pa [PA]) Oct 18, 2017 6:44 AM
Reasons2BreakLease (by S i d [MO]) Oct 18, 2017 7:05 AM
Reasons2BreakLease (by Wilma [PA]) Oct 18, 2017 8:29 AM
Reasons2BreakLease (by Barb [MO]) Oct 18, 2017 11:25 AM
Reasons2BreakLease (by nana&papa [IN]) Oct 19, 2017 12:14 PM
Reasons2BreakLease (by Chris [CT]) Oct 20, 2017 11:15 AM
Reasons2BreakLease (by Ray-N-Pa [PA]) Oct 20, 2017 4:46 PM
Reasons2BreakLease (by Ray-N-Pa [PA]) Posted on: Oct 17, 2017 4:34 PM Message:
As a LL we sure wish our tenants would never break a lease......vacancies a costly especially if they are unexpected. So what are the good reasons why a tenant should be permitted to break a lease?
Sure we can pretend that it never happens or that there are no good reasons - that neighborhood is called fantasy land and doesn't exist. Sometimes life just happens despite our best efforts and planning
--24.101.xxx.xxx |
Reasons2BreakLease (by NE [PA]) Posted on: Oct 17, 2017 5:14 PM Message:
As long as they pay an early termination fee, I'm not concerned with what excuse they have.
Acceptable reasons to me are active military deployment or the house gets destroyed by fire or something like that. Anything else is BS and an excuse to cut and run.
PS, sorry I haven't called you yet. I glanced through your email as well, thank you for the info. I've been super busy past few days. --50.32.xxx.x |
Reasons2BreakLease (by AllyM [NJ]) Posted on: Oct 17, 2017 5:27 PM Message:
People don't really like to move so if they are doing that it must be for a good reason. Either the place they are leaving from has too many problems or there is some big benefit elsewhere.
I would rather just let them go, curse the bad luck, and move on. --73.33.xxx.xxx |
Reasons2BreakLease (by BRAD 20,000 [IN]) Posted on: Oct 17, 2017 8:46 PM Message:
Ray,
Down with wimpy leases!!!
We cannot chain them to the house.
But we CAN control the finances at move out.
People leave when they want to leave for a variety of reasons. All are good reasons in the res’ mind. I stopped playing god trying to decide who‘s reason was worthy.
My lease is clear: 60 or more days written notice (on MY form) and Early Release Fee (a fee calculated at twice the rent).
We get several each year. Last week a res buying a new home paid us an extra month (to meet the 60 days) and $2940 ERF to move out early.
BRAD --68.50.xx.xxx |
Reasons2BreakLease (by Robert J [CA]) Posted on: Oct 18, 2017 12:52 AM Message:
Reasons that come to mind why I've let tenants out of a lease early with no penalty.
a) Job transfer out of State.
b) Abuse by partner, got restraining order, can't make the rent on their own.
c) Got married, Spouse had a brood of kids -- too many for my apartment.
d) Someone is stalking my tenant, for their safety they had to move.
e) Had to return home to take care of a sick parent.
f) Lost their mind, old age, moved into adult care.
g) Actress/Model got a part in a Broadway play in NYC, she couldn't maintain two homes at once. Since she was with me for 7 years and the Play was only six month gig, I help her apartment free of charge. Then rent's were only $500 per month. --47.156.xx.xx |
Reasons2BreakLease (by rentON [PA]) Posted on: Oct 18, 2017 2:57 AM Message:
I just let a Tenant out of a lease that joined the military. I don't think you can legally hold a Tenant to a lease if they join the military.
Domestic abuse may be the only other situation where you would have to let someone out of the lease without a penalty. --73.236.xxx.xxx |
Reasons2BreakLease (by WMH [NC]) Posted on: Oct 18, 2017 4:13 AM Message:
I don't care why, life happens. With sufficient notice I can get it rented again. We've not had too many break a lease to just move to another space around here - most have involved big things like leaving the area completely. --173.22.xx.xx |
Reasons2BreakLease (by Ken [NY]) Posted on: Oct 18, 2017 4:51 AM Message:
None of those reasons given were acceptable except the 2 given by NE,otherwise pay me an ELT and even then I don't care why --72.231.xxx.xxx |
Reasons2BreakLease (by Ray-N-Pa [PA]) Posted on: Oct 18, 2017 6:44 AM Message:
Had a tenant of four years show me her stage 4 cancer paperwork. You know I want believe I have an iron clad lease - but I am not HEARTLESS.
I could have done the legal thing and followed the lease - but instead I did the right thing.
As much as Landlording is a science, it is also an art and requires judgement and reason. Many on here are of the all or nothing school of thought. For those of you who are in that category, let me ask a follow up question - how do you mitigate risk when you are renting to a tenant who is totally POed at the landlord and doesn't have the means to pay the ETF to get out? What prevents them from trashing your place out causing tens of thousands in damage?
In the worse case ever:
I once had a rental built on a slab......and I got the thing back with the drains filled with concrete.
When I use the happy clause - it is normally my happiness that I am considering
--24.101.xxx.xxx |
Reasons2BreakLease (by S i d [MO]) Posted on: Oct 18, 2017 7:05 AM Message:
Ray,
You're my pal so take this in that spirit.
It is NOT heartless to hold someone to a rental agreement, even if they have cancer. That is the language of a wealth-hater who thinks business owners exist to milk people dry. Well, if that's true, isn't every business owner heartless too?
Here's a (short) list of all the people who need to be paid for providing goods and services to dying people: mortuary, nursing home, utility company, grocery store, hospital, funeral home, tax authorities, etc.
I've heard it said before we all need to be planning for the days/weeks/months/years surrounding our deaths. Financial coach (and my mentor) Dave Ramsey did a show on this recently and found that many people will spend more money in the last 3-6 months of their lives than the past DECADE combined.
Dying can be expensive. I pray that when the time comes, my death is swift. But I'm also preparing for it now in my early 40s in case it is not swift or cheap, because I don't want to be a financial burden to anyone. Not my family, not my church, not my community.
All this is to ask: why is only the land lord singled out as "heartless" for charging for services?
What do I do about pissed tenants? Get them out ASAP, file for damages, move on. I cannot and will not let fear of the unknown dictate my business. If I'm not going to charge someone the ETF because they pitch a hissy fit, that is not morally right towards those who fulfill their word and do pay the ETF. I'm more inclined to have sympathy to those who keep their promise vs. those who whine and wheedle to try to get out of something we all agreed was fair on Day 1 of the lease.
Bottom line: if you don't want to do ETFs that's fine, don't do them. But if you are going to do them, do them everyone, unless the law requires otherwise (i.e. military on orders). --173.19.xx.xxx |
Reasons2BreakLease (by Wilma [PA]) Posted on: Oct 18, 2017 8:29 AM Message:
We allowed that once, but only because we were fairly unhappy with the tenant anyway. While he paid on time, he consistently had a girlfriend living there on weekends (violating the lease terms), had asked to tear up the lawn to plant a large veggie garden (NO), and was less than stellar in his share of the yard work. We'd actually been drawing up a notice for him to get an app filled out by the girlfriend when he asked to break the lease due to troubles with his transfer that brought him there in the first place. Honestly, he just wanted to move in with the girlfriend in her place.
Most importantly, his request came during the best time of year to get tenants, and he was so low impact on the house that we needed only a couple of days to get it showing perfect after he moved out.
He was followed shortly thereafter by our favorite tenants in that house ever, who actually paid for a full month before they could move there just to be sure that they got the house.
Would I do it for someone with stage 4 cancer? Maybe, depending on our history together. I'd probably offer to spread my ELT out over a certain number of months in installments - while not depending on getting paid, it would be a gesture, and I could possibly show losses over a couple of years if I never got the payments.
I do honor your kindness - I once lost a job mid-lease during the 1980's recession, and my landlord showed me kindness by accepting partial payments for a couple of months until I (firstly) got my unemployment compensation, and then got my first couple of pays from my new job. I never forgot that, and when I saw her 25 years later, I thanked her again. She responded that she knew my character and honesty from 3 years of tenancy, and also that I was a no drama tenant, which is why she allowed that. --71.175.xxx.xxx |
Reasons2BreakLease (by Barb [MO]) Posted on: Oct 18, 2017 11:25 AM Message:
My Early Buy-out fee is in the lease for a reason. I don't care why a resident is breaking the lease, if they want to move, they will.
The fee compensates me for the time and energy spent showing the home. I'm about to change mine to 60 days notice (thanks Brad!) From 30.
Latest move out is because grandmother was being abused by uncle, who refused to take her to the store, doctor, pharmacy, etc, because it was not convenient. Must be true, because grandmother is moving across the country to live with my tenant. Now my resident needs two bedrooms and I don't have any open. So she paid the fee.
I've shown it once so far, interviewed a traveling nurse, and have an appointment next Tuesday with another student. Bumped the rent, too. I'll have it rented before the end of the year, so I'll be financially whole. Probably make money in fact. --64.251.xxx.xxx |
Reasons2BreakLease (by nana&papa [IN]) Posted on: Oct 19, 2017 12:14 PM Message:
We had one gal who was in the process of a divorce. I talked to her about the fact that she was signing a contract -- she indicated she was not going back to him. Guess what -- less than 6 weeks after she moved in, she wanted out of the lease -- wanted to try and make a go of it with her husband. We tried to get her to pay us directly for the lease she did not honor; no dice. So we took her to court; being an LLC we can only get $1,500 without a lawyer -- now she is paying us $20 a week through the court until she pays it off. It will take her one or two years, but hopefully she will learn a lesson about signing contracts!
We put an early buy out clause in our lease after that. So far, we have not had anyone that wanted out of a lease that bad.
We have had several older residents that needed to move for medical reasons from our apartments. In that case, we ask for a statement from their physician on the physician's letterhead and if the rent is current, we allow them to leave. We would rather they leave and go to assisted living, than maybe have a fall or a medical problem and expire while in our property. Sometimes we keep the security deposit, depending on if they leave the place move-in ready. --75.103.xxx.xxx |
Reasons2BreakLease (by Chris [CT]) Posted on: Oct 20, 2017 11:15 AM Message:
I have an ELT which works wonderfully, I use it 2-3 times a year.
However if my tenants buy one of my spec houses I waive it and let them out when it closes.
--24.45.xxx.xx |
Reasons2BreakLease (by Ray-N-Pa [PA]) Posted on: Oct 20, 2017 4:46 PM Message:
Geez, they buy a house from you and you waive the ELT. Do you all charge a dead person an ELT also? Well they didn't give you a 30 day notice that they were going to have a heart attack either. How about someone that is plan old destitute........
Sometimes I hear things on this board and scratch my head. How many folks online really charge an ELT when someone is evicted. Isn't that also an early release too? If I would believe some of the crap I hear on here, I bet there would be a could that would say sure as I would make more money.
The truth is things will occur so that either the LL or the tenant will have to terminate the lease. I don't make up life's rules but mother nature does a number on lots of rentals.
I am sadden in that so many of you use the ELT as a crutch instead of asking yourself.....now that I have an opening, how am I going to improve my performance.
Yes we all have the legal rights. I prefer not to kick someone when they are down out and then pick there pocket. Roughly 1/3 of my residents end up buying their home because of the use of just a little compassion and the use of the correct frame work to allow these same folks to succeed. It may end up taking them eight years to finally get bank financing but why would I want to kill a golden goose.
If I had to guess most of you are exercising transactional leadership. Perhaps I need to change this Subject to How to Be Greedy --24.101.xxx.xxx |
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