tenant breaking lease

a tenant of 3 years standing with whom I have had an excellent relationship is breaking the lease. He is refusing to sign a termination of lease agreement, being held only for the security deposit, not lost rent, and is being quite nasty about it. If I want to return the favor, can I report him to a credit rating agency?

henrybee

in Landlord 12 years and 6 months ago

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Rick | 12 years and 6 months ago

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Gosh, your tenant is leaving, so you get another tenant. I don’t see what the big deal is. Would you rather have them stay and stop paying rent? Go through housing court to get them out and really lose big time? People need to move for all sorts of reasons perhaps a new job, or a relationship. How can these changes ever line up for you when the lease is up? All my tenants have been long term and I have no problem with them leaving as long as they give me a months notice. If you are providing a quality space you will easily find another tenant. If your rental is in bad shape you should do something about it.

curiositykilledthecat | 12 years and 6 months ago

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Another fellow landlord encouraging you to be reasonable.  Sounds like this situation may be too far gone, but going forward, when a tenant breaks the lease, let them know if you can get it rented with no loss, there is no harm done and you will return the full deposit.  If you have a nice apartment at a reasonable rent, you should be no worse for the wear.  Don’t make a big deal out of this–do unto others and all that stuff. Good luck.

Goatcrapp | 12 years and 6 months ago

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Though i sign leases with all my tenants, the only time I would throw a fit about them leaving early is if they were also leaving the place in shambles.  People’s circumstances change, and he’s been a good tenant for 3 years, according to you. Just let it go – you’ll be happier for it.  Assuming you weren’t renting it way above market value (in which case, you can understand why they’d want to move, lol) then you’ll have no trouble finding another tenant. HOPEFULLY the tenaqnt will be as good as the one leaving. Too many landlords get caught up in a “my house/ my rules” mentality, but forget to take a step back and see the human side of it.  I’d love to have a good tenant for 3 years. And when they left, they’d get a good reference from me.

jeanmarine2 | 12 years and 6 months ago

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It would help to know whether you could get a replacement tenant at the same or higher rent and without paying a broker to do it. If so then I’d suggest having a heart to heart with this tenant about what had happened to turn things so negative after a good relationship. It might have nothing to do with you. But I personally wouldn’t want a tenant who doesn’t want to be there. They don’t take as good care of the space. I also wouldn’t make them sign a termination agreement – and I’m a lawyer. But I would try to negotiate something reasonable and protect the property. Angry tenants can be vindictive. I’m also a landlord with good luck in tenants so far. And when I was a tenant I had a good landlord relationship go south very quickly over how I felt treated

cupolacoffee | 12 years and 6 months ago

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henrybee, please post the termination of lease agreement your tenant’s refusing to sign. I’m sure it will give all much better insight into the dispute.

Stonergut | 12 years and 6 months ago

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Love thy neighbor is usually the best approach. Because no one in Brooklyn at least ever expects you to be a good guy and do the decent thing, they get all paranoid trying to find out exactly HOW you intend to screw them, causing more agitation in the long run. Honest – this has worked for me in wonderful ways over the years. I had a tenant try to weasel her way into a rent controlled building nearby, and lied to the landlord saying I was a witch, bla bla bla. He called me to ask what my problems with her had been. I told him she was terrific, and I had no problems with her as a tenant outside of she and I having somewhat differing personalities and we didn’t like each other much. But that she was overall, a terrific person. She called me later in tears asking what I had told the guy, because he turned her down and she was well and truly screwed by her own devices. This was all from trying to be nice and generous and turn-the-other-cheek-like.

snarkolepctic | 12 years and 6 months ago

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Wow Eme.  Did it make you feel better to piss all over henrybee? You have no idea why their tenant broke his lease and your response actually makes you look like a bit of a jerk.  I can sympathize with tenant breaking lease. It happens and we had to deal with it when we rented out a condo.  Sometimes tenants break leases at completely inopportune times and I don’t blame henrybee for being pissed off. There is little recourse and most tenants know this, so a lease, in essence, offers very little protection to the landlord.  You can sue in small claims court but your best course of action (assuming no damage to property) is to grumble for a few days, then list the place and put it  behind you. Henrybee: on the plus side: rental market is very strong and while it sucks that your tenant is breaking the lease, you may end up getting more rent.

eme1million | 12 years and 6 months ago

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As I landlord, I know well the anxiety of losing an excellent tenant.  You fear now the unknown, and wonder if you will ever have such a good tenant again.  I can relate. But your pettiness here is just astounding. You should thank you tenant for 3 good years and tell him/her that the door is always open should their circumstances change. THen you should look in the mirror  –  my guess is you have unwittingly pushed them out through your own bad behavior.

m926bk | 12 years and 6 months ago

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I don’t know any of the circumstances, but if he has been an excellent tenant for 3 years (and paid, say, $36,000-$72,000 in rent), why not just let him out of his lease?  I hope that if my circumstances change one day and they don’t align perfectly with a lease term, my landlord would do this.

GoodProspect | 12 years and 6 months ago

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You can sue him for lost rent too. Small claims court.