Landlord Question and Answer Forum

is it possible to early terminate a tenants lease when accepted offer is signed? I live in Wisconsin, the new owners are not interested in renting, is there an exception for the current landlord to terminate the lease before closing when the new owner will be living in the house? I had a one year lease that automatically renewed to a full term after the first year ended in Oct 2013, however I never gave tenants written notice of its renewal. also the original lease had 2 tenants, one left this May 2014 due to marriage and moving out of state, I did not give them written permission to leave, does either of these things default to no lease? I need to sell for financial reasons, I notified tenants I early May via email that I'd be listing the house for sale, the remaining tenant did answer back reminding me of the lease and intent to stay until end of lease September 30, 2014 closing is set for August 15th I have drafted a letter for early termination of lease giving 45 days to vacate and also emailed tenant letter will be coming. can I enforce the early termination? tenant refuses to speak on phone and has requested speaking only through email or written communication. Do I have any options ? thank you in advance!

It is up to the new owners to terminate or honor the lease. What you can do is open the communication to the tenant and give them a notice that the property is for sale and may have a new owner. This is a nice courtesy to the tenant so that they can get a jump on preparing to move out. If need be post a notice of sale and new ownership on the property to give fair warning if the tenant cannot be reached.

Posted by Richard W, PA on Wednesday, June 25, 2014