So I have a tenant that has failed to pay rent for the last month (coming up to two months), and I have spoken with them and they have said that they don’t want to mess me around anymore and so are happy to leave the property. They are currently 2months into a 6month contract. They have even said that they will pay the arrears when they can, even after moving out.
Do I still have to serve them a section 8 if I take them up on the offer to move out? Or can we just agree to stop the contract?
As the tenant is prepared to leave you can both sign a deed of surrender (which has to be witnessed) to end the tenancy early. If you make a claim on the deposit for the unpaid rent you won’t be too out of pocket.
Business contracts are broken all the time and can also be ended by mutual agreement. Life happens and plans change.
I had exactly this scenario last year. When you sign the deed of surrender, make sure you have two copies and all three of you (including witness) sign both. Then give them one original to take away and keep yours. When I worded my deed, I included the fact that I would be taking the entire deposit in lieu of rent owed and stipulated the amount in case he challenged the deduction with the DPS.
Be prepared if you do this for the DPS to question why you are taking the whole deposit if the T doesn’t respond to them (mine didn’t). That’s when I sent them the deed and they accepted it. I had to wait weeks longer because he failed to respond but I did get it back eventually.
The key point is that it has to be a Deed which is a special kind of legal document. The wording has to reflect that and the execution procedures are rigid. There’s lots of information about how to create a deed online.