As a rental property owner, your livelihood is dependent on the kind of Airway Heights rental property tenants you’ve carefully screened; you have to be able to trust your renters. Because of this, it can be problematic when a tenant sublets the rental house, especially without your knowledge or permission. 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. It is possible that the new “tenant” is not subletting, but only house-sitting the property for some reason. You can do a simple interview with the original tenant and the new one so that you can slowly document their claims and responses. In so doing, you can also gather all the evidence you need to get to the truth.
You could also talk to your neighbors. This will allow you to gather more information so that you see a clearer picture of the situation. Another idea would be to check rental apps like Airbnb. If it is true that the tenant is subletting, you might find a posting of your property on the app. If so, you can use that as evidence of the lease violation.
Give Notice of Lease Violation
If the research verifies that the tenant is subletting even when the lease clearly states against it, then you have to notify your tenant that they violated the lease. Include all other violations in your research so that it’s even more evident that the tenant who is subletting is really not following through on the terms of the lease.
Whoever is living in the rental and whatever agreement they might have with your tenant, the reality is that it is your tenant who is responsible for upholding the lease agreement. Usually, when this happens, a tenant can be given time to remedy the situation to comply with the lease. Once the time has gone, make sure you do a follow-up in order to ensure that the subletting tenant is no longer there.
Take Legal Action, If Needed
If the case is that your tenant does not want to follow through with the request to remove the person subletting the property, you can begin the eviction process. Remember to keep yourself updated with your state and local laws so that you can follow all the statutes and rules to the dot.
When you’re confronted with a difficult situation such as a subletting tenant, you would benefit a lot from knowing what your rights are, and how you can legally evict the subletting tenant. Depending on your location, you might even have to evict both the tenant and the subletting tenant so that you can get back full rights and access to your rental property.
The trajectory of your legal recourse will be dependent on the location of your property and the language in your lease. If your lease’s policy on subletting is unclear and vague, you should remedy that as soon as possible. The best course of action is stopping 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 Spokane County have the experience and legal knowledge to guide you through any lease violation situation, getting you back to business as usual 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 509-462-1042.
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