Texas question.

I am in the process of taking an ex-tenant to court. One issue is this: The tenant wanted to terminate their lease early and I signed off on their notice to terminate. In my opinion they entered a holdover situation when they failed to vacate by the agreed date. They finally vacated 12 days later.

I am seeking the accelerated amount of 3 times the daily rent for those 12 days. The judge is intimating that the notice to terminate supersedes the lease agreement and because nothing in the notice to terminate stipulates any consequences for not vacating on time I cannot claim they owe me any holdover money.

I would appreciate any input as to whether a notice to terminate supersedes the provisions in the original contract.

First of all, not a lawyer, but in your lease you probably have a phrase "can be changed with agreement by both parties." If neither the lease or the agreement specify the accelerated amount, or if your agreement mentions cancelling the accelerated amount agreed upon in the lease, then you can't collect, but if the lease mentions it, and the agreement doesn't, then you can follow what's described in the lease.

Many, I many times tenants will agree to leave when they have difficulty paying the rent. Maybe they lost their job, bills have piled up or they are just plain irresponsible. In any case, with no place to go or looking at a costly move, the tenant has no incentive to leave as promised.

So what to do? I make it clear to my tenant that if they can not pay rent and they agreed to move out by a curtain date, then the next day after the agreed move out date, I will serve them with a notice to pay rent, followed up with an eviction.

This will stay on their credit reports for 7 years! Meaning it will harder to find a job, get cheep car insurance or obtain credit from others. It would be in their best interest to leave.

To your question, I would advice the tenant that you could have re-rented the property at a higher rate and will hold them responsible for your losses.

Most judges will award you the lost rent up to the eviction and then order the Sheriff to do a "lock out", taking another 10 to 17 days here in my State. After the lock out, your attorney can file a "change", converting your eviction to a "Money Judgement" adding on the additional rent owed for the extra time it took for the lock out. If you want more money, then you will have to sue in small claims court.