Hi good afternoon everyone,

It's almost time to renew the lease of my 2nd Floor tenants, which i am not really inclined to do, but their lease will expire Sept. 1st, and i consider is not the best time of the year to find a tenant and specially someone that will be willing to pay 1st, Last and Security... So they have a year lease, i am planning to renew for 6 month, that means it will expire on 3/1/2022 which is the best times to find a tenant, don't you think ?

My reasons for not renewing are not major or safety hazards nor healthy issues, they pay on time but they are not following the lease at it fullest...

Is this letter to offer a renewal OK ??

RENTAL AGREEMENT RENEWAL

1. Vital Information Date of Original Agreement: ______________________

Landlord: _______________________________ ______________________________

legal name phone number

_______________________________ ______________________________

address email

_______________________________

city, state zip

Tenant(s): ______________________________________________________________________________

Non-tenant Cosigner: _____________________________________________________________________

Premises:

_______________________________ ______________________________

address short description

_______________________________

city, state zip

Names of all occupants (and ages of all minors < 18 years old):

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

2. Terms Tenant and Landlord hereby agree to extend their fixed term lease

c for another year, through ______________________

c for 6 month, through _________________________

c on a month-to-month at will basis

(check one)

under all the same conditions and with all written modifications still in effect.

The parties hereby agree to be bound:

Landlord: _________________________________ Tenant: _____________________________________________

Date: ___________________ Tenant: _____________________________________________

Tenant: _____________________________________________

Date: ___________________

Cosigners (if any): ________________________________________

print

________________________________________

address

________________________________________

sign (use whitespace for add’l cosigners)

Do i have to add any rent increase here?? How long do i give them to reply to me ?

If they decided that Yes, i should give the same Lease of last year at least 30 days before, right ? And just changing the lease timeline terms and including the raise? Right now they pay 1895, i will increase it to 1960 (to keep it under the market rent and other reasons)...

Please any advise will be welcome.

Thanks

LZ, IMO you are over thinking this. Just send a letter stating that you are terminating their existing rental agreement August 31, 2021 (not on 09/01/2021) and offer them a new 6 month tenancy at the rate of $xxx per month (you should be going up at least 5%, I just went up 15-25% on most of mine) add any other thing that you want to change from the existing rental agreement & conclude with all of the other terms from the rental agreement dated ________ remain the same. I would sent it so they receive in on or before 07/01/2021 but you actually could wait & send it so they receive in on 08/01/2021. I like to give all of my tenants 60 days notice so they have plenty of time to look around & realize what a deal they are getting by being my tenant. In your letter you should include a dead line for them to respond.

If they pay on time and are not a health or safety hazard, why are you thinking of swapping them out? There are no perfect tenants out there, they all have issues of some kind, and very few will "follow the least to the fullest". I think very carefully about this as your replacements tenants may end up making the originals look stellar. Often, better the devil you know that the one you do not.

In any case, at least where I am, 9/1 would be a better timeframe ro rent than 3/1 mainly because of weather and I imagine it is worse up in MA. No one wants to move in the wintery weather which is pretty much what you will have on 3/1. The best time for me is May though September.

Thanks everyone for your input, you know sometimes you are just trying to do things as best as possible.

Jerry i was reading from MassLandlord Forum and in the FORMS tab, they have this letter, my previous tenants were month to month, last year i started having a year lease, but the 1st one left, so no renewal, therefore i don't have much experience when is a year lease. Thanks for the input.

Robin thanks, i thought of that too.

Steve my dear LL Friend, thanks for always chip in and sharing your knowledge, yes i realized i might be overthinking this way too much, i was just guiding by the forms at MassLandlord... I can't go up 5 % because that will put me over the fair market rent, and since i use s city program for the deleaded, i am bound to keep my rent under the market rent, right now for a 3 bedroom is 1971, so if i increase it to 1960 i will be fine... They send a letter every year to tenant to make sure i am keeping my word...

I prefer to send it so they can receive on 7/1/2021 so they have 60 days to make their choice. Yes i am holding LMR, and the Security Deposit is on a escrow account. By increasing the LMR you mean telling them to make up the amount to equal to the new rent amount, right ? What about the Security Deposit ?

AL thanks for your input, i know that no one is perfect... They for some reason, are the responsible of the mice infestation i had recently, they are not very "helpful" with the cleanliness, 2 white doors and trims are now like cream or almost light gray, i keep "teaching them what goes on the trash and what is recycling", and other things, like i found someone that is not on the lease using the entry codes to get in, i have codes in the main door, so we do not use keys... These and other things had been addressed, but eventually they re-occur... Like i said, they are not major things or safety hazard in a way, nor healthy hazard, but little by little... And i understand what do you say, believe me i had been thinking and thinking with my wife...

I said 3/1 better because is closer to get more hot than cold, September here is closer to cold, the closer, the difficult, i think... But i take every opinion in consideration. Yes i think 9 month to fall on 6/1 will be great too, thanks.

6x6 thanks for your input, when they were going to rent, i offer M2M from the beginning and they did not like the idea, so i offer a year lease, among all the applicants, they were the only one willing to pay 1st, Last, Security and having a Co-signer.

Personally, I do month to month only. Tenants seem to know that they have to co-operate more because they can be terminated with proper notice without any real reason. That way you can also wait until June or July to have them leave.

That said, I agree, the tenant you know can be better than the one you don't know and since they have already ruined the paint, they can live with it, you don't have to fix it.