You, Mr. Landlord are pleased to find qualified tenants for your rental house. The man and woman sign a
one-year lease on Tuesday.
On Thursday the male tenant contacts you and says
they have changed their minds because his girlfriend
thinks she sees “dead people” in the bathroom.
He expects you to cancel the lease!
What do you do, hire an exorcist?
No, you smile and softly explain… “Listen Bub, that
was a legal contract you signed. It binds both
of us to everything printed on those sheets of
paper…. the laws says so, that’s who!
And that’s true… both parties must agree to break
a legal contract… it can’t be done unilaterally
(usually). In this case the contract is the well
prepared, solid gold lease.
Is your reluctant tenant on the hook for an entire
year’s worth of monthly lease payments?
It brings a tear to the eye of we hard boiled
landlords… but he probably is not obligated to
pay rent for the entire year.
Courts have ruled that the landlord has to make
a good-faith effort to find a new
tenant for the unit as soon as possible.
As soon as one is found the original crybaby is
released from the contract.
The cost of renting to the new tenant can be deducted
from the security deposit you collected from
Mr. Crybaby. That includes advertising and a copy of
The Grinch Who Stole Christmas you give him as a
go-away gift.
About The Author –
Mark Walters is a real estate investor and author. His published works can be found at his web site…
