Do you guys think it is reasonable to charge $630 for reletting fee? It took us about 2 wks to to show, process and move someone else in. I just calculated $45x14days. On my lease it said if they defaulted we are allow to charge for reletting fees , but I did not stated the fees.

Hi Liz,

Texas law allows landlords to charge tenants for costs related to filling a vacancy left when a tenant terminates a lease without just cause. These expenses cover marketing and qualifying new tenants. Landlords can charge a reasonable “reletting fee” for having to prepare the dwelling for reletting and having to redo paperwork. The reletting fee must be a fair amount to cover actual expenses and cannot be unfairly inflated. If a new tenant is not found, a landlord can charge only for the total rent owed under the rest of your lease (and cannot also charge you any reletting fee or other termination fee).

TXLord mine just said we can charge for reletting fee or any costs to find another tenant. I will need to alter my lease and be more specific next time. Will state 85% of 1 month rent next time. Even tho I did not have to pay for marketing, still have to put out the time to do all the necessary things to find another tenant. $630 is what I am going to charge for reletting fee, her rent was $1210.

I was thinking you were charging a per diem from the rent amount (you stated $45) but I'm not sure where you are getting that amount from since your rent is $1210 - that would be $40.

Hmmm...

Our ELT covers this.

I would also consider your time and add basic advertising costs for signage, the ads you would normally post...

Can you charge $___ per showing, per phone call, per visit to check on the cleaners, mileage...?

A pro management company would charge the first month's rent to sign a new lease.

Half a month's rent sounds 'reasonable' but when/if you itemize it may come out to more. There was a full house cleaning including:

- inside oven and refrigerator

- carpets shampooed and floors polished/resealed

- cost of cleaning products,trash bags, dumpfees, etc

- ceiling fans and light fixtures cleaned (on a ladder)

- repair contractors for nail holes, moldings, tightening door hinges and handles (add here whatever was fixed) paint touch-ups

- garage and laundry area cleaning, incl drains

- porch, patio, and yard cleaning (fence repair?)

- changing/re-keying all the locks!

Then there is the advertising, cost of vetting the new tenant, and doing new lease documents, not to mention your travel to and from. I would say that all comes to way more than the remainder of their security deposit! Total it up, subtract their SD and charge them the remainder.

Yes I forgot to add those things up that we normally do to move someone in. So if you had to paint, I thought it would be as wear and tear, but in this case you are allow to charge right? Normally I don’t have to deal with a lot of people breaking their lease.

In my town it would be customary to pay a PM 10% of a month's rent, plus a 1/2 month's rent fee to find a new tenant. What would that work out to for your unit?

I would charge at least that amount, or whatever would be the customary rate for a PM to do this in your market. Maybe call a few local PMs and ask them to send you rate quotes for this service. That way if it ever goes in front of a judge, he/she will easily be able to understand the fee and see it is reasonable. Odds are it will never go in front of a judge, but if it does you can prove you acted in a reasonable manner.

I too specify an ELT (early lease termination) fee in our lease. That way, there are no arguments. We all agree to it up front.

Yes I have checked, they usually take 1 month fee. One of our realtor stated that they normally take 50% of one month rent if tenants broke the lease. So I am going to deduct 50% plus additional fees like rekeying, touchup, etc. It added up to little over 1 month rent. So either way they will lose at least 1 month. In the future I will put it in the lease for tenant to pay 1 month rent.