Lease Termination Question
single family 5 bedroom rental property lease ends 10-1-03. 2 schoolteachers plus 2 stundent/workers male tennants. Only 2 schoolteachers signatory to lease. All rents paid to date. 3 of 4 ( including 2 on lease) moving or have moved. 1 who is still there has 3 girls who are waitresses who wish to become tennants and have sent rent checks ( personal ) each signed by one of the new people who have apparently moved in when the other 3 left early. The money held for security is the problem. The old guys who moved have done so without written notice and the new girls have assumed they will be approved. The 1 guy claims that the 3 girls will pay the 3 guys who moved the security deposit monies in order to re-imburse the old guys and then I would switch the names on the security deposit to reflect the new 3 tennants assuming I approve their applications. The girls seem sincere but how do I close out the old lease 1 month early or am I committed to accepting these girls if I cash the checks they sent for Sept. in place of the checks the old guys were supposed to send in Sept, (their last mo.) I have looked at the property and all seems well condition wise but I am afraid if I do this wrong I may end up in court somehow. I know all 4 new tenants will sign lease but what about the security deposit transfer and notices. Could I simply ask the 1 remaning person to get the 3 who are leaving to sign a reciept for each of their security deposit refund and then give 3 new security deposit reciepts along with the proper paperwork to the girls?
This is a good one to take to your local attorney. Your local landlord-tenant laws may give you the direction you seek.
Is the landlord/tenant relationship between you are the departed tenants still in effect in regards to the security deposit and the balance of the rent for the rest of the lease term? If so, then you should probably treat the replacement tenants as "sub-tenants" of the former tenants.
Once you approve the replacement tenants and get them on the lease, collect a security deposit from each of them, make them all jointly and severally liable for the lease, and refund security deposits to your departed tenants directly (less any rent loss you may have suffered from their early departure, and property damage beyond normal wear and tear).
If your landlord-tenant relationship is still in effect, then you are liable to your former tenants with regard to the security deposits. You can use your collections from the replacement tenants to make the refunds, but you should make sure that the money is funneled through you and not paid to your former tenants by a third party.
You want all parties on the lease to be jointly and severally liable for the rent so that if one occupant gets mad at the roommates and moves out, you have recourse to collect that share of the rent from the remaining occupants. If three of the four move out, then you still have one tenant left on the lease who is liable for the full rent amount.