How to Collect Rent If a Tenant Breaks a Lease
- 1). Note the date of move out. If you were not given notice that the tenant was leaving the property, check with neighbors and public utility companies to pin down the approximate date the tenant vacated. Use this information to calculate money owed. In most cases, the tenant is responsible for rent payments for the lease duration, however, some leases include a clause that the tenant may vacate and only owe a specified amount, such as two additional months.
- 2). Put the rental on the market as soon as possible. Most states mandate a landlord must relist rental property as soon as possible after a tenant vacates. Taking a few days to clean and ready the property for rent is typically acceptable. Keep copies of ads placed in newspapers and online in the effort to rent the property out, so they can be shown in court as evidence that you did your due diligence as a landlord, even after the tenant skipped out on the lease.
- 3). Calculate from the date of move-out until the unit was re-rented. If it does not re-rent, and there is no early termination specified in the lease, calculate the amount of rent from the date of move out until the lease ending date.
- 4). Prepare a letter to the tenant requesting payment for the calculated amount. Follow your state law with regards to applying any deposits to the balance due. Track the tenant through public utility request for movement, a job address and reference addresses that were used on the rental application.
- 5). Mail the letter to the tenant at his new address or the address you believe he now resides in. Demand payment by a named date. Provide a self-addressed, stamped envelope for the payment to be mailed in.
- 6). File suit if payment is not received by the appointed time. Some former tenants may offer to make payments to you on a monthly basis. If you choose to accept them, hold off on suing the tenant as long as payments are being received. If payments stop or the tenant refuses to pay, file a civil suit in the county court clerk's office and provide the clerk with information to have the tenant served to appear in court.
- 7). Provide all evidence during the hearing. This includes the rental agreement, copy of lease, all evidence of your attempt to re-rent it, proof of the date it did re-rent and your calculations of the former tenant's balance due. In addition, request that the judge order the former tenant to pay the court costs and attorney fees, if you use an attorney.
- 8). Levy his property if he fails to pay the judgment. This is done in most cases by taking a copy of the judgment to the clerk's office and requesting a levy on the tenant's wages or bank accounts. You must provide the bank information. If you do not have it, ask for the tenant's wages to be garnished through levy. The sheriff department will serve the tenant's boss with paperwork ordering a percentage of each of the tenant's paycheck to be withheld and sent to you until the entire judgment amount has been satisfied.
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