Ask Me Help Desk - My tenant wants to break lease in Washington State

Quote:

Originally Posted by JET30

I have a tenant who is wanting to break the 12 month lease (she is seven months into it) she signed. She's citing that she wants to move in with her boyfriend in another city. I've tried recommending her to get a roommate, sublet the place, etc, but so far I haven't seen her do much on either of these options.

Right now it is terribly difficult finding a replacement tenant and even if I could re-rent it, I would have to drop the price by at least $100-$150/month with the current market conditions.

I have a written lease, which does not specifically spell out penalties on this front. I also have a $700 deposit from her for damages.

What are my options?

If your lease does not address penalties then she owes you for the balance of the lease (if you don't agree to allow her to break it) but you have to (in most States) make every reasonable attempt to re-rent the property in order to mitigate (reduce) your damages.

She is responsible for your lost monies due to her moving - whether that involves a full loss of rent, a loss of partial rent, whatever it is.

The damage deposit is just that - you would have to look at the property when she vacates, determine if there are damages, hold the balance of the deposit toward unpaid rent - I will qualify that by saying in most States. I was recently in Housing Court and the Judge stated that the damage deposit is just that and the way the lease was written (I did not see the lease) did not allow it to be used for payment of rent.