September 16, 2009 11:02 PM
- Text
Can I Break My Renters' Lease If I'm the Landlord?
(MoneyWatch) Dear Ali, I am temporarily in Arizona working on a project for my company, so I have rented out my townhome in Colorado. My renters have signed a lease for one year, ending next summer. The problem: My mother has fallen seriously ill in California and I need to move her home with me to Colorado. My property managers say there is nothing we can do except ride out the lease for the year. Are they right?
A: Your property managers are right that your renters have a legal lease, and you don't have the right to evict them.
However, there's one option that you didn't mention: a buyout. If you asked your renters to move out while offering to pay moving costs and giving them a couple of months' rent for their trouble, they might agree to that. (Realize that they don't have to, so try to stay as sweet as sugar.)
The other thing to keep in mind is that even by approaching the problem with the idea that you'll move your mom to be with you, you're doing her good. My dad was quite ill for about a year when I was in high school, and I remember that the impulse is to try to do "one more thing" to make the sick person better. But it's not just your responsibility -- the doctors will do a lot too! You're being a good kid just trying.
Read More:
A: Your property managers are right that your renters have a legal lease, and you don't have the right to evict them.
However, there's one option that you didn't mention: a buyout. If you asked your renters to move out while offering to pay moving costs and giving them a couple of months' rent for their trouble, they might agree to that. (Realize that they don't have to, so try to stay as sweet as sugar.)
The other thing to keep in mind is that even by approaching the problem with the idea that you'll move your mom to be with you, you're doing her good. My dad was quite ill for about a year when I was in high school, and I remember that the impulse is to try to do "one more thing" to make the sick person better. But it's not just your responsibility -- the doctors will do a lot too! You're being a good kid just trying.
Read More:
Latest Now in MoneyWatch
- EU: Greece must cut deeper to get bailout
- Big banks, gov't officials strike $25B deal
- LinkedIn swings back to profit
- LinkedIn doubles revenue, beats growth estimates
- Kodak to stop making digital cameras, frames
- Market cap, schmarket cap, Apple still gets no respect
- Philip Morris Int'l income up nearly 8 percent
- Survey: Small biz plans big hires in 2012
- Freddie Mac: Mortgages inch higher but stay low
- Will the European debt crisis sink Obama's re-election?
- Banks in $25B deal to settle foreclosure abuses
- Joe Coffee: Scaling up without selling your soul
- Greek agreement accomplishes nothing
- 401K plans: New rules make costs clearer
- Are women leaders selling themselves short?
- Ask the Experts: New 401(k) rules
- Mortgage lenders strike a deal
Latest CBS News Headlines
on Facebook
on CBS News
- Spain set to pass crucial labor market reforms
- Virgin, British Airways $235M Nigeria fine quashed
- India, EU hope to reach free-trade pact this year
- Blasts rock Syria's 2nd largest city, Aleppo
on Facebook
- Tenn. father charged with murdering couple who"unfriended" daughter on Facebook
- "Person to Person" with George Clooney
on CBS News






