As a rental property owner, your livelihood depends on trusting your precious Delta rental property to a tenant you know and have thoroughly screened. Thus, it can be a great problem if your tenant opts to sublet the rental house – specifically if they do so without your knowledge or permission. Setting the terms of your tenant’s stay in your rental home simply starts with apparent and clear language in the lease. If you already have your subletting policy in writing and your tenant violates it, here are certain suggestions you’ll need to handle the situation like a pro.
Gather Evidence
If you suspect your tenant might be subletting your property without permission, your preliminary step should be to confirm your suspicions. It may, in all probability, be that the new “tenant” is not subletting but rather house-sitting or staying at the property for various reasons. You can begin by interviewing both your original tenant and the person in the house and documenting their replies, plus when your conversation occurred and any other evidence you may have noticed.
You may likewise need to speak to the neighbors, or anyone else you think may have information regarding your situation. If your tenant is subletting your rental through a platform like Airbnb, as an illustration, you could search for your property on the app and make use of what you discover as evidence of the lease violation.
Give Notice of Lease Violation
If your research does prove that your tenant is subletting, and your lease specifically states that subletting is not allowed, you’ll need to notify your tenant that they have violated their lease. Count any other violations your research may have found, especially if the person subletting is not upholding the lease terms.
Disregarding who is living in the rental and their agreement with your tenant, your tenant is still responsible for upholding their lease agreement. In the majority of cases, it is a good idea to give your tenant time (such as 30 days) to rectify the situation and get back into compliance with their lease. You will then need to look into it once that time has gone by to find out whether the subletting tenant is gone or not.
Take Legal Action, If Needed
Should your tenant refuse to comply with your request to dismiss the person subletting the property, your following step may be to kick off the eviction process. Just make certain to verify your state and local laws and follow all of the statutes and rules exactly to the letter.
With a subletting tenant complicating the circumstance, you need to know what your rights are, whether or not you can legally remove the subletting tenant, and what procedures you’ll need to take to achieve this. Conditional on where you live, you may actually have to evict both your tenant and the subletting tenant before you can reclaim full rights and access to your rental property.
In the final analysis, your legal recourse will be dependent on both where your property is located and the language in your lease. If your lease does not have clear language denoting your policy on subletting, that is something you can put right and correct swiftly. The best course of action is simply stopping it before it transpires when it comes to preventing subletting.
If you find yourself experiencing a subletting tenant, know that you don’t have to tackle it all alone. The property management professionals at Real Property Management Now have the experience and legal knowledge to lead you through any lease violation state, getting you back to business as usual as fast and as readily as possible. Learn more about what we can do for property owners like you by contacting us online or calling us at 970-314-7123.
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