Back in May, I started advertising some of my student rooms for August. I had one graduate student who came and saw the room and liked it. She did give me the rent to hold the room for her.

I met her yesterday, we signed the lease, she moved her stuff in. I also got her security deposit as well.

This morning, she texts me and says “ good morning, after spending the night here, I don’t think it’s a good fit. My dad is extremely concerned about my safety living here and he is coming today to pack up and move me back out today. What are my options going forward, I can’t live here anymore.“

Now, this is a nice house full of students, in a safe area so I don’t know what her problem is. Her roommates are 2 nice young women.

I texted her back as I was not home and I asked her to specifically please tell me what it was that she did not feel safe about or what her father did not feel safe about.

She has not returned an answer. I will now have to advertise and re-rent the room, which shouldn’t take long as lots of students are looking for nice places to live

Can I keep her full rent for July? I know I will probably have to return her security deposit but in the meantime, now it’s my time and effort to do more showings as I know this is part of the business. Any thoughts?

Oh, I am definitely holding her to the lease. I have someone who was interested in a mid to late July move-in so that should work out well however, if it doesn’t get rented, then I am definitely going to withhold the security deposit until it does.

So, if anyone would like to share their early lease termination wording, I'd appreciate it.

I would charge 1 1/2 months rent which would be equal to their security deposit.

It is part of the business, but she should have to pay for any days of rent, utilities, etc., until a new tenant moves in. Tell her you'll try to find someone to take over ASAP and when they can move in she'll be off the hook. You could try charging an early termination fee and maybe she'll accept it due to her cancellation. Once you add wording to your lease then you can definitely charge! Mine is $300 plus, any charges I incur like cleaning, painting, carpet cleaning, etc. Personally I would return any unused deposit and rent after you deduct all rent and charges.

Here you go!

******************

Early Termination Fee. If TENANT requests early termination of the rental agreement, or if by breach of terms

causes LANDLORD to terminate the lease prior to the end date, the following conditions apply:

*TENANT shall pay a one-time fee of $___________________ to LANDLORD to be released from this lease. This amount is due in addition to rent due for the month in which TENANT terminates tenancy and must be paid prior to TENANT vacating the premises. Weekly, bi-weekly, and bi-monthly payment plans will be prorated as appropriate during the last month of the lease once the Early Termination Fee is effective. Until the fee is paid,

the lease continues and rent continues to be due according to the “Rent” paragraph.

* Any rent discount received must be repaid in additional to the early termination fee.

* TENANT's deposit cannot be applied toward the early termination fee or rent discount repayment.

* If TENANT requests early lease termination, TENANT must still give 30 days written notice as specified.

*************************

Feel free to copy, modify, use, whatever.... go forth and conquer! No guarantees this will fly 100% in your area, though. Might want to run it by legal counsel to get their opinion. Or just use it and see what happens.

Well, her father just called me! The reason that he did not want her to live there was because the house was “old“. The house was built in 1900, it has plaster walls and lots of what I call vintage charm! I’ve owned that house for 17 years and no one has ever complained about it.

He went on to say that he has been in the construction business for over 30 years and when he gets a house like that, and his crew will “gut it”, And make everything new, they replace everything, yada yada yada.

He seemed appalled that his baby girl would be living in an older house when she now lives in a brand new 4000 square-foot house.

He complained about a “smell“. There’s no smell! That room was cleaned thoroughly. He complained about the older windows, The paint possibly having lead, it was just unfit for her.

I love the charm of an older house, I live in one myself! He just swooped in to rescue her. I told him that when she looked at it two months ago, she liked it, and she did not have a problem with it however, he did. I really feel for this girl. He will probably pick out her husband as well.

He wanted money back. He wanted the security deposit and the rent. I told him no, she signed a legal contract with me and she is financially responsible until I find a replacement. I will do my due diligence in finding another tenant. I know it won’t be difficult as I live near two major universities.

I also said to him that in the future, whenever his daughter looks at an apartment or a room, he should accompany her to give his approval. He agreed!

I am not going to gut a three family house!! The house is well built, sturdy and strong. Probably better built than his new 4000 square-foot mansion!

Anyway, I’m just venting now, but she still on the hook financially.

Sid, yes, however, I really wanted to know why she did not feel. “safe“.

It seemed like the door locks were an excuse however, it wasn’t the door locks, it was the fact that he felt it was not up to His standards.

It did go to voicemail and I did call him back. I let him know that she was still legally bound by this lease and he understood.

Jo, you dodged a bullet with helicoptering daddykins. We have old houses too but we do gut rehab most of them because they have usually been in a fire when we purchase them CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP.

Yes, she and her father both know That she is financially responsible until the room gets rented. I have ads out now and many students are looking for an August move-in.

I really think she liked it and wanted to live there, but her father overruled her and made up things like a smell that never existed and oh the old windows might have lead paint! Well, is she going to chew on the windowsills?

Just stupid stuff going through my mind, but if he’s footing the bill, then she has to do what he says.

She signed the lease and legally took possession, she should have talked to her father before she decided to.

I would tell her she has 2 options. Either to stay as she agreed, or she can terminate the lease and follow what is stated in the lease in the event of a lease termination. This does not matter if its day 1 or day 300.

If you don't have this in your lease, be sure and put it in for next time.