Landlord Question and Answer Forum

Hello I'm a lanlord in Southern Cal. I rented to a military family a year ago where the gentleman and wife signed a two year lease agreement, but a year later are giving me a 20 day notice to move for the following reasons: Unfortunately the gentleman (marine) was wounded in battle and is now disabled due to losing one leg, the unit is upstairs. He says he is also being re-located to San Diego which is roughly 90 miles away and can not make the commute, once again due to his disability. He informed me that he plans to leave the place "professionally cleaned" and just like he received it - which I believe he'll do. He made it clear that he expects a full refund even if I can not rent the place right away, he claims that he is protected under a disability act as well as some type of military right since he is being relocated. As much as I respect the military and appreciate his sacrifice, I do need to protect my investment, does anyone out there know if I'm entitled to keep the desposit to cover any loss in rent while the unit is vacated? Am I entitled to additional compensation for additional rent loss, since the deposit only covers an additional month? Any comments will be greatly apprecited.

I would recommend reading this: http://www.rentlaw.com/military/clause.htm Under Section 535 of the Service Member Civil Relief Act, a military member has the right to terminate a lease, if, after signing the lease: the tenant enters military service (which includes a reservist being called to active duty); or the tenant signs the lease while in military service, and then receives military orders for a PCS move, or to deploy, or as an individual in support of a military operation, with a military unit for a period of not less than 90 days.

Posted by Dawn A, WI on Friday, July 13, 2012