The Move-Out Process

What do I do when the Tenant has Moved?

By John Nuzzolese

When a tenant has vacated a tenancy, you must handle the situation properly, especially if you want to avoid problems with your former tenant and the possibility of legal hassles and a big waste of time, aggravation and money.

Either the tenant has moved out:

in accordance with the lease agreement, or

in violation of the lease agreement.

If your tenant vacated your rental property properly in accordance with a conventional or LPA Lease agreement, it is likely that he left the property in acceptable condition. Meaning that it was returned to you in acceptable condition so you can then rent the property to a new tenant. It also means that the tenant has paid the rent throughout the term of the lease to the last day and is not owing the landlord any money.

Often there are charges against the security deposit, even when the tenant has done a great job complying with the Lease Agreement. You will probably minimize damage and clean-up by using the Move-out Reminder Letter and Move-out Cleanup & Debris Letter, but the tenant still may violate the lease and cause all kinds of damage.

Assuming the tenant left the premises in poor condition, the landlord is required to follow a certain procedure to keep or collect money from the tenant to cover damages. The Landlord Protection Agency makes it easier to do that with the use of various Essential Forms:

1. Property Condition Report checklist : Documents & certifies the condition before and after the tenancy.
2. Security Settlement Statement: Officially lists the charges made against the security deposit and also notifies the tenant of any additional charges above the amount of the security deposit.
3. Settlement Charges Guide: A little something we like to give tenants along with their Security Settlement Statement just to show them how much we really should have been charging them for some of the usual damages.
4. Security Settlement Challenge Crusher : This form is made to squash tenant's unfounded claims to security money back.

By having these forms in your computer, ready to roll if you need them, you won't miss a beat when the time comes for withholding security deposit money or charging the tenant for specific items.