Landlord Question and Answer Forum

I have a tenant who earlier in the year decided to prepay her rent. This was unsolicited. She had completed her one year lease and refused to sign an extension, yet paid through November. She notified me that her public housing had come through and she was moving. She gave a 30 day notice and moved. My question is how much of the prepaid rent must I refund.. The apartment has not yet rented and is causing a cash flow loss. Do I settle the remainder when the apartment rents? Do I have to take the loss when she rented the apartment through November? If so, do I pay her as rent is paid to me? I didn't cause her to move for lack of upkeep. Also, she left damages to carpet and walls. She ruined new bedroom carpet with an 8 X 5 inch stain that carpet cleaners could not remove. Can I charge for carpet replacement? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks

The tenant did right. She new she may be moving soon and didn’t want to sign a long term lease. She sounds like a tenant that most of here would like to have….prepaid rent. You need to send her the rent over pay. She did not rent the unit until Nov (unless you have it in writing…it’s still questionable) she just paid you in advance. And since it was rent over pay and not Sec.Dpst, I don’t believe you can use it for cure of any damages if they existed….. I’m not sure why you feel the way you do. She gave you proper Notice. Vacancy is part of doing business. If you feel that when 1 tenant moves out, you have another waiting at the door to move in, you may want to rethink about being a landlord…..As for cost of replacing the carpet, you would have to pro-rate the amount over the life of the carpet…. Her moving has nothing to do with you as a landlord. She simply was waiting to be accepted by Housing, which normally has a long wait list. ---- Disclaimer: Since I’ve been answering a lot of questions, I thought I would make the following statement. I’m not affiliated with EZlandlord Forms. I’m just here (not sure how long) to help those that have questions. Having 40+ yrs with Rental Property and done well, it’s my way of “Pay it Forward (check out the movie).” However, it is up to you to become familiar with your State/Local laws. I always like to know if the suggestions I offer are helpful. Feel free to comment anytime. Thanks in Advance.

Posted by Bob R, CA on Thursday, August 9, 2012