Can Tenant Return after Moving Out?
I have a tenant that broke her lease and moved out without leaving a forwarding address. She had given me a security deposit before she moved in, but since she did not give me proper notice (and also broke her lease,) I ended up losing rent until I was able to find a new tenant….
I have a tenant that broke her lease and moved out without leaving a forwarding address. She had given me a security deposit before she moved in, but since she did not give me proper notice (and also broke her lease,) I ended up losing rent until I was able to find a new tenant. I was finally able to find a new tenant who has moved in. The old tenant is demanding her deposit back and threatening to move back into her old apt. if I don’t give it to her, claiming she still has a lease for the apt. The amount of rent I lost is more than the amount of the deposit. technically she is the one who owes me money but I don’t want to go through the headache of trying to sue her so I was just going to let it go. Does she have any right to move back into her old apt??
What a great scam for someone who has to break their lease early and fears losing their deposit.
Move out, leave behind some old worthless furniture, household items and clothes, wait till the landlord re-rents the place and then show up out of the blue claiming you never left and threaten to move back in unless you get your security back.
All of her possessions were removed. She left nothing behind. not a thing.
What kind of trouble could she cause? I have a witness that saw her move out (lives in the building)and another “ear witness” who heard her moving out. In addition I have several e-mails going back and forth between us stating she was moving out and when she was moving out and saying she signed a lease on another place and picked up the keys and moved in etc. Is that enough proof that she moved out?
The first question I would ask if I were a housing judge, did she move her furniture out or not? If the apartment was barren and she was not paying rent, then one could argue she constructively ended the lease then (even if she did not give formal notice or return keys). OTOH, if she left furniture or other significant belongings behind, it sounds like she simply was not paying rent (and staying with someone else/traveling/who cares?), and your new lease might be violating her rights under the old lease.
Obviously, this is really a Q for a LL attorney.
Yea, I agree with previous comments.
If you don’t have written communication from her that she intended to vacate then you’ll have to pay up. She could cause trouble.
How much of a security deposit are we taking about?
it stinks, but if you can’t prove that she vacated and broke the lease… you might have to pay up.
what proof vacated? turned off utilities? returned keys? any correspondence saying she was vacating?
Change the locks.