# Documentation for tenants leaving early but still owing money
**URL:** https://community.openrent.co.uk/t/documentation-for-tenants-leaving-early-but-still-owing-money/20413
**Category:** Legal
**Created:** [25 February 2021 22:20 UTC](https://community.openrent.co.uk/t/documentation-for-tenants-leaving-early-but-still-owing-money/20413 "2021-02-25T22:20:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Jonquil](https://community.openrent.co.uk/u/Jonquil)
#### Post date: [25 February 2021 22:20 UTC](https://community.openrent.co.uk/t/documentation-for-tenants-leaving-early-but-still-owing-money/20413/1 "2021-02-25T22:20:37Z")
Hello everyone, I have a good relationship with my tenants, but they realise that although they still have 6 months to go on their fixed term tenancy they have asked to terminate the tenancy early so they can live with parents and sort out their finances.They still owe several month’s rent. The question is: what legal documentation do I need, both to demonstrate an end in their interest in the property and to commit to paying the outstanding money? Any suggestions? Thank you so much for reading . . . . .
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### Author:  [@A\_Z](https://community.openrent.co.uk/u/A_Z)
#### Post date: [26 February 2021 12:13 UTC](https://community.openrent.co.uk/t/documentation-for-tenants-leaving-early-but-still-owing-money/20413/2 "2021-02-26T12:13:47Z")
You require a deed of surrender.
You shall need to document the terms and conditions on their.
You may need to purchase one other than that on the open rent website if you wish to charge rent etc
I would suggest you take legal advice for that as you are chasing rent
> [@Tenant asking for tenancy end](https://community.openrent.co.uk/t/tenant-asking-for-tenancy-end/19442):
>
> Hi All, My tenants provided me notice that they wanted to terminate the tenancy early into the contract, a 12months AST. I have provided them with a Surrender deed template as found [here.](https://help.openrent.co.uk/hc/en-gb/article_attachments/360015534432/Surrender_deed_template.docx) Will this keep us both out of trouble in the future, together with the emails showing their request and my aceptance or are there any other legal matters I should be aware of? Many thanks in advance
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### Author:  [@David122](https://community.openrent.co.uk/u/David122)
#### Post date: [26 February 2021 12:22 UTC](https://community.openrent.co.uk/t/documentation-for-tenants-leaving-early-but-still-owing-money/20413/3 "2021-02-26T12:22:01Z")
A deed of surrender will end the tenancy, but it assumes that any payments agreed have been made at the point of signing and once its signed, the tenancy ends and no further rent is due. If you want them to pay rent until another tenant is in place, then you could try agreeing a lump sum advance rent plus any re-letting costs and ask them to pay that prior to signing. If you manage to let it early, you may need to refund any unused rent.
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### Author:  [@Jonquil](https://community.openrent.co.uk/u/Jonquil)
#### Post date: [26 February 2021 21:52 UTC](https://community.openrent.co.uk/t/documentation-for-tenants-leaving-early-but-still-owing-money/20413/4 "2021-02-26T21:52:42Z")
Thank you to both A\_A and David 122 for your replies. Yes, I thought about a Deed of Surrender, but that states that all the rent has been paid to date, which is not the case here . . . they still owe several months. I wonder whether I really need a document to indicate the end of the fixed term AST given that their non payment of rent has already broken the contract anad presumably made it void
. But what about the rent owing? They have agreed to pay it spread over the next few months, but I have no idea what sort of document I can use to formalise this. Any ideas?,
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### Author:  [@David122](https://community.openrent.co.uk/u/David122)
#### Post date: [26 February 2021 23:24 UTC](https://community.openrent.co.uk/t/documentation-for-tenants-leaving-early-but-still-owing-money/20413/5 "2021-02-26T23:24:03Z")
You could ask them to send you a proposed repayment plan. If you ever get to the point of having to sud them for the arrears, a repayment plan that they’ve broken will help your case.
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### Author:  [@A\_Z](https://community.openrent.co.uk/u/A_Z)
#### Post date: [27 February 2021 06:17 UTC](https://community.openrent.co.uk/t/documentation-for-tenants-leaving-early-but-still-owing-money/20413/6 "2021-02-27T06:17:21Z")
If they are leaving an AST early you need some kind of evidence that they are not coming back ( they could try it on)
Non payment of rent does not make the contract void ( if it only it were that easy )
Even an email stating they abandonded the house would indicate they have left
On a realistic note unless you go to court I don’t think they are going to pay you
I had a tenant say that last year but the pandemic hit and I haven’t seen a penny
I also didn’t chase in light of the economic crisis that followed
You may need legal advice regarding rent owing and how to formalise that
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### Author:  [@system](https://community.openrent.co.uk/u/system)
#### Post date: [16 August 2024 01:50 UTC](https://community.openrent.co.uk/t/documentation-for-tenants-leaving-early-but-still-owing-money/20413/7 "2024-08-16T01:50:32Z")