Am I obligated to refund a tenant’s if they breach their lease?
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Am I obligated to refund a tenant’s if they breach their lease?
My wife and I had a friend renting a room in our house for $75 a week. We had her sign a contract saying if they didn’t pay theirrent by 5:00 on Mondays and there behavior was unsatisfactory they would be asked to leave. So yesterday they went to buy drugs so we told the renter that they had to leave.
Asked on August 30, 2011 North Carolina
Answers:
MD, Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
If your tenancy doesn't include a security deposit and the lease is $75.00 per week, then you really only need to give her a week's notice in general terms. However, since she breached the lease because the behavior was unsatisfactory, any monies you received from her at that point is yours. Further, if your lease with her gave a lease term of six months for example, then she may actually owe you the $75.00 per week for the remainder of the lease term until you find a new tenant. You are obligated to mitigate your damages, if for example, you intend on bringing in a new tenant.
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