Tenant Broke The Lease 7 Months Early And Bought A House.
I have a tenant that broke their lease 7 months early and bought a house. They said they need to break the lease because the mom was in bad health and is not expected to live much longer. They said they needed to break the lease and go back to France. They cooperated and showed the house as needed to get new renters in the house. During this time, no one applied. They moved out. This has been about 6 weeks so far that I have been showing the house. I now have an application which looks like it is going to be approved. I sent her a itemized list of deductions including the loss of rent for May along with a pet repair bill, advertising, and some painting. She has additional bill for $600 she is willing to pay. It turns out that she lied. She said her family member was dying and that is why she needed to break the lease. I just found out that she bought a house 7 doors down on the same street. I did a title search and she did purchase the home. My question is, can I take her to court for the balance of the lease since I did my part to try and secure a new tenant letting her out of her lease early?
monkfish,
I agree. Thank you for your response.
If she is willing to pay the additional $600, you have nothing to sue her for in any case. Once you have found another tenant, her responsibility to pay the rent ends. No court will award you compensation for lost rent when you are collecting that rent from someone else.
Chris
Except in Texas.
[addsig]
I know that in Texas, and a couple of other states, you have no duty to try and rerent the property, but if you do rerent it can you still collect rent from the prior tenant?
Chris
You will also need to see what your lease states for breaking the lease.
Try your hardest to work things out without going to court. If it is $600 that she owes, see if she will pay you $100 a month for 6 months or $50 a month for a year. If you go to court it will cost you time and money and is not worth it for $600. So see if you can work something out or write it off. You can tell her that you will report this to her credit if its not paid.[ Edited by estateXchange on Date 05/09/2007 ]
Thanks everyone. Great help!