As a rental property owner, your livelihood is based on how well you screen a tenant for your Jacksonville rental property. The goal is to find people you can entrust your property to. Hence, it’s no surprise when dealing with tenants who sublet the house without your knowledge or permission becomes problematic. Setting the terms of your tenant’s stay in your rental home starts with clear language in the lease. If you have already clearly presented the subletting policy but still your tenant violates it, here are some tips to handling that situation.
Gather Evidence
If you have reason to believe that your tenant might be subletting your property without permission, your first step should be to confirm your suspicions. The new tenant could simply be house-sitting the property (for whatever reason) rather than subletting. What you can do is start interviewing both the original and “new” tenant so you can document their responses and gather evidence to conclude once the investigation is over.
You might want to ask your neighbors for information, too. They can provide more details to paint a better view of the situation. If your tenant is using an app like Airbnb to sublet your property, you can simply use the app to find your property. If you do find it there, that can be evidence of the lease violation.
Give Notice of Lease Violation
If your research confirms that your tenant is indeed subletting, even though the lease explicitly prohibits it, you must notify your tenant that they have violated the lease. All other violations uncovered by your research should be included, especially when the tenant subletting is not upholding the lease terms.
Remember that no matter who is living in the rental, and regardless of what agreement they have with your tenant, it is still your tenant who is responsible for upholding the lease agreement. In circumstances like this, a tenant may be given some time to correct the situation to comply with their lease. After the allotted time, you might have to make a follow-up to make sure the subletting tenant is gone.
Take Legal Action, If Needed
If your tenant does not comply with the terms to remove the subtenant from the property, you may begin considering the eviction process. Remember to stay up to date on your state and local laws so you can follow all statutes and rules to the letter.
When dealing with tenants who are subletting, it’s best to know your rights so you can legally remove the subletting tenant and enforce the law. Depending on where you are located, you may need to evict the tenant and the subtenant before you can regain full rights and access to your rental property.
Your legal recourse will all boil down to the location of your property and the language in your lease. If your lease is unclear about the policy on subletting, you should rectify it immediately. The best course of action is to stop it before it happens when it comes to preventing subletting.
If you’re in a situation where you have to confront a subletting tenant, you can always seek help. The property management professionals at Real Property Management Champion have the experience and legal knowledge to guide you through any lease violation situation, getting you back to business as quickly and as painlessly as possible. Learn more about what we can do for property owners like you by contacting us online or calling us at 910-782-4488.
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