Q: My tenant changed his mind two days before the beginning of the contract and failed to occupied the property.
He paid the deposit and one month in advance three weeks prior to the start of the contract and now is asking for the full refund. We’ve found new tenants and they’ll start the contract in two weeks. The previous tenant doesn’t want to sign a termination agreement and he doesn’t think he needs to pay for the two weeks the property is going to be vacant because he says he terminated the contract before it even started.
Can someone terminate a contract unilaterally? (I’m guessing not)
Do we need to return the full amount of money?
Can the new tenants start the new contract at that date even though we don’t have a termination agreement signed from the previous one?
Thanks
A: The date they told you they would not be staying in the rental is normally the date of Termination for the original tenants. They did sign an agreement, so even though they got nothing out of it, you may technically argue their termination cost you rental time if the contract is clear on this point. If they had quit in the middle of a one year lease, they would normally be on the hook for the remainder of the lease until you could find someone to be a new tenant. All of this is based on the terms of the contract, which sometimes can be surprisingly biased toward one party or the other. To get advice for your particular situation, your attorney will need to review the contract.
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