Can Landlord terminate lease because tenant do not take of property

[PrincessCuddles]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Maryland, Frederick county

Hi,

A couple months ago, we rented our townhouse to a family of three adults (mother, father and mother in law) and the 4 children. We were promised that they would take good care of our home and will abide by the conditions in the lease. Since then, I have visited the property a couple times and it seems to get worse and worse as far as the cleanliness of the home and there is evidence of neglect (trash not being removed, and debris on floor..etc..) We are landlord by happenstance and really not happy about this condition. My question is can we terminate the lease early because of the tenant neglect on taking care of the property? Are we liable for terminating the lease earlier than the 1 year term.?

Lastly, they have been late paying the rent (ie. first of the month) and tend to push the 5 days grace period for the last two payments.

Thank you for your advice.

DPN

 

[FarmerJ]

Housekeeping issues are not easy because what you think might be filthy may not be that bad, trash being taken out , well unless your lease defines how often the trash is taken out I don't see you being able to do much about this unless it becomes obvious that they may have canceled or not ordered up garbage service and are piling it up faster than they can dump it elsewhere. Debris on the floor , well again not a easy battle, BUT since they are paying the rent late then that's your ticket DO not waste any more time with Novembers rent if its not in on time start your states process to evict based on non payment , if your lease has a late fee NO more slacking on it if the rent comes to you with out a late fee when one is due , reject it. ( does your states laws limit your use of damage deposit funds to actual physical damage ? If they do not then deduct late fee from deposit and send confirmed mail delivery notice that you have done so and keep a copy for your records. ( does the city where this rental is have city wide pick up or is it individually contracted pick up?) BTW next time around if your state has not enacted a mandated grace period for tenants to pay rent late with zero penalty to them remove the grace period from the lease and your free to either have the lease say that the rent will be accepted late due to postal holidays or you are free to have your lease say that if the due date for rent falls on a postal holiday or non delivery day like Sunday then it will be due the mail delivery day before. ( so if a Monday is the first and theres no mail on sun or mon then rent would be due the Saturday before)

 

[adjusterjack]

We are landlord by happenstance and really not happy about this condition. My question is can we terminate the lease early because of the tenant neglect on taking care of the property? Are we liable for terminating the lease earlier than the 1 year term.?

Lastly, they have been late paying the rent (ie. first of the month) and tend to push the 5 days grace period for the last two payments.

First thing you want to do is study the MD landlord tenant statute until you know it backwards and forwards. It addresses your rights and obligations and likely covers the situation you now find yourself in.

http://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/2015/article-grp/title-8/

MD has a housing court that you'd likely have to use instead of small claims court. So familiarize yourself with that, too.

http://www.courts.state.md.us/legalhelp/housing.html

Never rely on the promises of tenants. They will walk all over you if you let them. If you require the tenants to do anything specific about upkeep, put it in the lease.

I agree about eliminating grace periods from your lease. Rent is due on the day it's due. Period. The day after that it's delinquent and you should be charging a DAILY late charge and NEVER accept late rent without all of the late charges.

Another thing I used to do (and it was in my leases) is pick up the rent personally on the due date and carried my pay or quit notices with me just in case. None of this "check is in the mail" business and if there was a holiday or a weekend or whatever the appointment was for a day or two ahead of the due date if the tenant didn't want to incur late charges.

 

[ElleL]

Never rely on the promises of tenants. They will walk all over you if you let them. If you require the tenants to do anything specific about upkeep, put it in the lease.

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I agree with that. Also if you want to prevent such situations in future, you should screen you tenants carefully. You need require not only credit report and background checks, but also ask for recommendations from previous landlords, current employers. You should interview you tenants as well.