Landlord Question and Answer Forum

Scenario...tenants Lease is not renewed and we now have a disgruntled tenant. This tenant is now looking up law to see where they can screw the landlord over. They move out on the last day of their Lease before it expires and calls the landlord the following morning saying "I'm outta there, the apartments yours". The landlord goes in with his key and sees many items left in the apartment. He changes the locks and cleans out the apartment. Later the tenant comes back saying he wasn't done moving and cleaning, and that he was locked out by the landlord before before they did a walk through or turned over his keys. Because everything was verbal, the Landlord can not prove that the tenant verbally turned over possession. Why would the Landlord doubt or be suspicious of the tenants verbal turn-over, when they both know that the Lease has ended. Now the tenant can sue for damages. To avoid this scenario, all the Landlord had to do was have the tenant sign a document stating that they turn possession of the unit over to the Landlord in some indisputable legal terms so that that Landlord does not have to deal with any repercussions from a slick, disgruntled tenant who's out to settle the score because you didn't renew their Lease. It should also say that for each day the tenant does not sign to release the unit to the Landlord, a daily fee will be attached as damages and proceeding may be started to gain possession of the unit. EZ Landlord Forms does not have a document like this yet. Just a suggestion.

Valerie, you just learned a valuable lesson. All agreements must be in writing so that all parties can review and agree with understanding the terms….. I doubt a fee could be applied for not signing a release. A daily rent fee could possibly be applied, depending on the situation. Always check state/local tenant laws.

Posted by Stan M, CA on Wednesday, August 2, 2017