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One tenant leaves, other wants to stay

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antiduke

Junior Member
I am new to the Landlord-ing scene and have already been dealing with a problem tenant. Her and her husband have been in the house for a month and a half and I was just informed that the husband (who was the primary source of income) has left her. He left his key and a note saying he would not be paying for anything and wants off the lease. It is a 1 year lease.

She has since called me and said that she has a friend that is needing a place and that she would like to move in. I informed her that I would have to approve of this new person. So my questions are: What do I need to do to get the husband off the lease? Do I terminate the current lease and start a new one? Can I just add a person to the new lease?

This girl has been problematic, consistently asking to pay rent late or less amounts - and she has only been here a month and a half - and that was with her husband who made good money. His income was the primary reason I allowed them to move in. I would like to take this opportunity to wash my hands of her altogether but not sure if that is legal for me to do or not.

I have this in my lease regarding Early Termination:
Lessee is responsible for the full term of this lease. If Lessee moves out before expiration of lease and Lessor re-rents the premises, it is the responsibility of the Lessee to pay one month's rent for this service, in addition to any rent due that is not covered by the new Lessee. If Lessor is unable to find a replacement Lessee, the Lessee remains responsible for all rent payments until the end of the lease. At the end of the lease, any property left behind for more than five days will be deemed abandoned and the landlord will not be responsible for it.

Since the husband is leaving early, does he owe me a full month's rent? Or just half?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
 
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Ohiogal

Queen Bee
Sorry. The state is Kentucky
Why would you allow husband off the lease? That doesn't make sense to me. And does the wife agree with her husband being removed from the lease? You need the agreement of all parties to the lease to agree to it.
 

BL

Senior Member
Regarding lessee is responsible for full lease .
The LL Must take certain steps to litigate. Meaning must make a reasonable effort to re-rent.
Until it's re-rented lessee is responsible. Ok so try and work it out. Hubby can not just tell LL he is out turn in his keys and be done with the lease. LL can and should take him to court .Try and work it out . If not eviction is the next step.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
Regarding lessee is responsible for full lease .
The LL Must take certain steps to litigate. Meaning must make a reasonable effort to re-rent.
Until it's re-rented lessee is responsible. Ok so try and work it out. Hubby can not just tell LL he is out turn in his keys and be done with the lease. LL can and should take him to court .Try and work it out . If not eviction is the next step.
However you DO have to have a reason to evict. Now, you did say that rent was not really paid properly, and that can be a reason, but you do have to have a reason.
 

antiduke

Junior Member
Well I don't want him around and causing problems if he's not living there. What would you suggest? Leave him on lease and let the wife go after him for all the rent he doesn't pay?
 

antiduke

Junior Member
I go there tonight to meet this new tenant the wife has suggested. I feel like the husband owes me a months rent or at the very least half of the rent for leaving early. He is not returning calls or texts though.
 

FarmerJ

Senior Member
Reaches in to feel Antidukes forehead , yes you need another cup of coffee to think this thru , you have one half of a tenant couple who cannot afford this unit on their own. So its up to you but If it was me since Octobers rent is now due if you do not get the full rent by its due date (in the lease ) to begin your states process to evict for non payment. BTW the husband telling you he is done means zip, he signed that lease and I ll guess you did have her sign it too ? so even with that clause in your lease >>Lessee is responsible for the full term of this lease. If Lessee moves out before expiration of lease and Lessor re-rents the premises, it is the responsibility of the Lessee to pay one month's rent for this service, in addition to any rent due that is not covered by the new Lessee. If Lessor is unable to find a replacement Lessee, the Lessee remains responsible for all rent payments until the end of the lease.<<< this whole thing is a mess because If I was your tenant I would argue that this means i can pay you one months rent to end the lease early and have no other obligation . In fact if I was a landlord I wouldnt bother having that in my lease because it makes the lease look wishy washy , Either you wanted a tenant for a whole year or you dont. BUT as long as she signed too this will not be as hard as it may seem too because most all leases state that all signing tenants are equally obligated but when one tenant wants out then every one has to agree and as LL its simple you do not have to agree to this change and even if he sent you a written notice to start the one month rent penalty it would be pretty meaningless with her still there , SO If it was me I would get her out for non payment if she cannot pay but name them both on the summons and all paper work in the process, ( did it occur to you the loving couple did this on purpose and likely havent gotten along for ages and did this so she would have housing once he was gone ? ) It doesnt matter , he is the one with the income that can pay the rent so name them both , and in the end if your able to , go after him for unpaid rents , I can see this whole thing snowballing on you and its gonna run you over if you let her move a friend in , what are you gonna do when they fight and cant get along , you willing to go thru the crap again ?
 

BL

Senior Member
Reaches in to feel Antidukes forehead , yes you need another cup of coffee to think this thru , you have one half of a tenant couple who cannot afford this unit on their own. So its up to you but If it was me since Octobers rent is now due if you do not get the full rent by its due date (in the lease ) to begin your states process to evict for non payment. BTW the husband telling you he is done means zip, he signed that lease and I ll guess you did have her sign it too ? so even with that clause in your lease >>Lessee is responsible for the full term of this lease. If Lessee moves out before expiration of lease and Lessor re-rents the premises, it is the responsibility of the Lessee to pay one month's rent for this service, in addition to any rent due that is not covered by the new Lessee. If Lessor is unable to find a replacement Lessee, the Lessee remains responsible for all rent payments until the end of the lease.<<< this whole thing is a mess because If I was your tenant I would argue that this means i can pay you one months rent to end the lease early and have no other obligation . In fact if I was a landlord I wouldnt bother having that in my lease because it makes the lease look wishy washy , Either you wanted a tenant for a whole year or you dont. BUT as long as she signed too this will not be as hard as it may seem too because most all leases state that all signing tenants are equally obligated but when one tenant wants out then every one has to agree and as LL its simple you do not have to agree to this change and even if he sent you a written notice to start the one month rent penalty it would be pretty meaningless with her still there , SO If it was me I would get her out for non payment if she cannot pay but name them both on the summons and all paper work in the process, ( did it occur to you the loving couple did this on purpose and likely havent gotten along for ages and did this so she would have housing once he was gone ? ) It doesnt matter , he is the one with the income that can pay the rent so name them both , and in the end if your able to , go after him for unpaid rents , I can see this whole thing snowballing on you and its gonna run you over if you let her move a friend in , what are you gonna do when they fight and cant get along , you willing to go thru the crap again ?


break it up farmer , I cant read novels or books any more .
6
 

antiduke

Junior Member
Some good points there. And yes, if full rent is not received by due date I will be beginning eviction procedures.

Here is what I would like to do:
Husband owes a month's rent for early termination. I take his name off lease once he pays, leaving the wife on the lease by herself. Now, if he does not pay, he remains on the lease and is equally responsible if rent is not payed.

Am I thinking about this correctly? My head is swimming right now.
 

FarmerJ

Senior Member
I have not personally seen a lease that did not state that all tenants were jointly liable / equally obligated , so if they both signed the lease its easy both of them are on the hook and just because one left it means nothing , if they both had moved out and paid you the penalty fee then it would be different. (personally It shouldnt matter to you if the husband came around and caused problems , this is what the police are for and if you think it still doesnt matter , yes it does because his nice paying employer just might not react well for him if one of it s employees were charged with a crime of any kind. Until you are paid do not drop him off of the lease. So Im saying not to be too concerned about so called problems with him, this is what the police are for. If he damaged your property file a police report, If he bothers her , well too bad she has to call the police.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
Some good points there. And yes, if full rent is not received by due date I will be beginning eviction procedures.

Here is what I would like to do:
Husband owes a month's rent for early termination. I take his name off lease once he pays, leaving the wife on the lease by herself. Now, if he does not pay, he remains on the lease and is equally responsible if rent is not payed.

Am I thinking about this correctly? My head is swimming right now.
No, the husband does NOT owe a month's rent for early termination. The lease is not terminated and one of them still remains in the home. You have suffered no interruption in the collection of rent at this point. You would have no recourse against the husband unless rent is not paid.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
Some good points there. And yes, if full rent is not received by due date I will be beginning eviction procedures.

Here is what I would like to do:
Husband owes a month's rent for early termination. I take his name off lease once he pays, leaving the wife on the lease by herself. Now, if he does not pay, he remains on the lease and is equally responsible if rent is not payed.

Am I thinking about this correctly? My head is swimming right now.

husband doesn't owe anything, especially for early termination. Get that out of your head

husband and wife (presuming they are both signatory to the lease) jointly and severally owe whatever is owed and since there is a remaining signatory of the lease, nobody has terminated anything.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
Well I don't want him around and causing problems if he's not living there. What would you suggest? Leave him on lease and let the wife go after him for all the rent he doesn't pay?
why would you care who the wife chases for money? Your only concern is that somebody pays you and if they don't, you have a right to terminate the lease and initiate eviction proceedings.


and if it comes to that, you have to list BOTH the husband and wife on the filing since they are both signatory to the lease (again, presuming they are)
 

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