Q: Tenant gave notice via text May, he is moving in July, now says Sept 4th. Do we still owe relocation money?
We decided to sell the house after he said he was moving. he then asked us for a 90 day letter. I sent him a notice saying we were confused on his move out date since he kept texting different dates and we would consider from the time of letter 90 days per his request. I also sent him a cure or quit notice for several. violations of the lease after our pre-buy home inspection. Since he said he wasn't sure if he would move. He allowed us to fix the damages he created before we sold the house. My husband is afraid we will need to pay him relocation money.
A: This is all very confusing. First no termination notice - either from or to a tenant - is valid or enforceable if only sent by text or email. Second, if he is giving notice, why would you send a 90 day notice? Third, issuing a 90 day no cause notice during the Covid crisis is generally unlawful. Fourth, by issuing a 90 day no cause notice, you may well have obligated yourself to be liable for paying relocation assistance (which you would not have been if you simply accepted his 30 day notice). The only way to really sort this all out is for you to gather all the documentation, including your lease, and reviewing it all with a local landlord-tenant attorney. Good luck.
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