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Lee’s Summit Property Manager’s Guide to Tenants Breaking Their Lease Agreement Early

December 11, 2020

What happens if your tenant needs to terminate their lease early?

It’s not an ideal situation, but things happen. It’s possible your tenant has found a new job out of state, or maybe they’re purchasing their own home and they’re ready to give up renting. Or, maybe something personally devastating has happened and their world has just been turned upside down.

Things can vary state to state when it comes to breaking lease agreements, but here in Missouri, everything is pretty straightforward from a legal standpoint. Today, we’re talking about the steps you’ll need to take and the responsibilities that remain with your tenant when they leave their rental home before the end of the lease term.

Missouri Law and Breaking a Lease

In Missouri, the tenant is legally obligated to fulfill that lease for the entire term of the agreement. So, if they decide to terminate early, they are required to pay rent until another qualified tenant is located and put in place to take over their lease.

Tenants cannot sublease their own home with the lease that we have in place.

Steps to Re-Rent the Property

What does this look like when you know your tenant is leaving? Here’s our process, which works pretty well and allows everyone to participate in minimizing what the tenant will have to pay upon leaving.

First, we will find a move out date for that tenant. You’ll need to know when your property will be vacant in order to market an available date.

Then, we’ll begin marketing the property to fill the home with another qualified tenant.

During the time that we’re trying to find a new tenant, the existing tenant is responsible for any mowing, utility payments, and anything involved in keeping the property well-maintained. The tenant is also required to pay rent until a new resident is in place.

Finding a New Tenant: Costs

The tenant who is breaking the lease is also responsible for any costs associated with finding the new tenant. That will typically include a re-leasing fee. We always have this discussion with the tenant before they leave. It’s also included in our terminate lease letter. We want to discuss all potential options and make sure our tenant is prepared for what it means financially to break the lease.

There are always options. We are clear from the beginning about our expectations and their responsibilities. We want the tenants to understand their costs so they can make an educated decision for their family and their future.

We always expect and hope that the lease agreement we sign with a tenant will be fulfilled for the one- year term. We want them to stay longer, and work hard on tenant retention. But we also understand that life happens, and not everything can be controlled by what we want and expect. So, we work with our tenants who decide to leave, and we keep your property occupied and your cash flow uninterrupted.

The most important thing to remember is that during an early lease termination, the burden is on the tenant, and we have a process in place to make that transition smooth and to keep your property performing. If you have any questions about this or any of our Lee’s Summit property management services, please contact us at Midwest Property Resources.

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