Landlord Question and Answer Forum

My tenates broke the lease 4 months early. LEFT A COMPLETE MESS. The pool had to be drained and acid washed. I think they acutually dumped a wheel barrow of horse poo in it. Sprinker system tore out of back yard. Holes in the back yard filled with horse poo. Broken window. No yard work done for 8 months! House is filthy. Dog urine thru out carpet and base boards. 1650.00 deposit. That does not begin to cover damage. HELP

All I can say is that I hope your state laws are different than in Maine. I have had the same situation more than once with the costs of cleaning, repairs, and back rent exceeding the deposit. And in Maine, the deposit can not be more than equal the amount of two months' rent. Landlords are left with the option of going to civil court which takes months and then more month to enforce it, which they won't do unless you do all the work of locating the ex-tent for sheriff service??? Our state allows tenants to abuse landlords

Posted by Lisa M, ME on Thursday, September 2, 2010

Sounds like Lisa M's response was on target. The best thing you can do is to avoid making the same mistake again of not inspecting your rental property during regular intervals in order to discover the kind of egregious "liberties" your tenant took with your property while they were stil living there. You said your tenant "broke the lease 4 months early", and I take that to mean they vacated 4 months early. If so, did they pay rent during those 4 months, and if not, didn't the first month of missing rent alert you that something was amiss? If you live a good distance from your property, which prevents you from inspecting it regularly, hire someone to periodically inspect it and report to you, e.g., a Real Estate management firm.

Posted by Steve F, NY on Saturday, September 4, 2010