7 Day Notice To Quit
does giving 7 day notice to pay rent or move out relieve tennant from lease term? does tennant owe for expenses incurred in finding new tennant and vacant period while new tennant found even if security deposit is used up already? how to collect?
Your rules may be different in your state but I can tell you a little about what happens in CA. We have three day notices rather than seven. These are issued when there is a tenant breach of a lease or rental agreement. You are notifying the tenant that he/she/they have three days to cure the breach or quit the premises. Most often the breach is lack of payment.
If the breach is cured within the three days, the terms of the lease continue. If not the owner begins an unlawful detainer which is a lawsuit to remove the tenant from the property. Here, the only money that can be collected under the unlawful detainer is for late rent. It cannot even include late fees or other fees that the tenant may owe.
In my lease agreements any non-rent amounts that are owed are paid before money is applied to the rent. Therefore, if the tenant owes a late fee of $50 from the previous month and the tenant makes a payment in the amount of the scheduled rent and excludes the late fee, the late fee is paid off first and there is a $50 shortfall in the rent which can be sued for under the unlawful detainer.
The tenant is still responsible for the other terms of the lease while occupying the property. If the tenant does damage that goes beyond the security deposit, there is liability. Also, I would certainly try to collect on the cost of the turnover including lost rent and advertising for a new tenant since the tenant broke the terms of the lease by not paying. Here, this would be a separate action outside the domain of the unlawful detainer, most likely an action in small claims court.
Keep in mind that the main purpose of the unlawful detainer is to get the tenant OUT! Most the time they may disappear into the community and may not have assets to pursue.
I hope this may be of some help to you.
Regards,
Ed