Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Michigan
Tenant moved early...thinks not responsible for rent
Long story somewhat short...I had a rental house that was rented to 2 individuals. They signed the lease jointly. All parties agreed to terminate the lease early. And I was being fair and was going to refund the security deposit minus late rent, damages, etc even though the lease was terminated early. They had until December 31st to move from the home. Rent was due December 1st. One girl decided to move at the beginning of December, maintained possession of the key therefore possession of the house until December 29th. She thinks she is not liable for any rent from the date she moved out, even though she maintained possession of the key for almost the entire month. I disagree and withheld half of the rent for December that was not paid. Now she is disputing the rent withheld from the security deposit because she did not live in the house. I have tried to point out that it doesn't matter because she still maintained possession of the key, which in turn is possession of the house. Am I correct in my ways in this matter? Or am I obligated to give her back her money for the days she did not ''live'' in the home? Any advice would be great! Thank you!
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Tenant moved early...thinks not responsible for rent
If the tenant that moved out early was on the lease, then she is jointly responsible for the rent for the entire term of the lease. Depending on the language of the lease, you may be able to charge the roommate if she doesn't pay and perhaps in turn, the roommate will put pressure on her to pay her share.
Another argument you could make depending on the language of the lease is that each tenant was responsible for the rent as long as the unit was occupied by at least one of them since the fact that it was occupied prevented you from renting to another party.
If you want to keep her security deposit you must do it in a legal manner. Make sure you follow the appropriate legal steps within the appropriate time frame.
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