In order to make a good livelihood out of your Catonsville rental property, your job as a rental property owner is to make sure that you screen your tenants well so that you can trust them with your property. Hence, it’s not a surprise when it gets problematic to deal with tenants who sublet the house 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 your tenant violates the subletting policy even when it’s already been stated clearly, here are some of the ways you can handle that situation.
Gather Evidence
If it seems that your tenant is subletting your property without permission, your first step should be to confirm your suspicions. It may very well be that the new “tenant” is just house-sitting the property and not subletting. What you can do is start interviewing both the original and “new” tenant so that you can document their responses and gather evidence to eventually come to a conclusion once the investigation is over.
Talk to your neighbors, too — see what they have to say about the situation in question. If your tenant is using Airbnb to sublet your rental, you can try searching for your property on the app as evidence to show a violation of the lease.
Give Notice of Lease Violation
If all of this research leads to confirming that your tenant really is subletting despite the lease specifically stating against it, you have to inform your tenant that they violated the lease. If there are other violations that you discovered through your research, make sure to include all of them so that you can make a strong case against a subletting tenant who is not upholding the lease terms.
Whether it’s someone else living in the rental or not, whatever agreement they may have with your tenant, it is still your tenant who has sole responsibility for upholding the lease agreement. When in circumstances like this, a tenant may be given some time to correct the situation in order to reach compliance 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 rejects your request to remove the subletting person from the property, you can then proceed with the eviction process. Make sure you go through your state and local laws so that you can follow all the statutes and rules thoroughly.
A subletting tenant is a challenging situation; which is why it’s important for you to know what your rights are and how you can legally remove the subletting tenant without violating any laws yourself. It could vary from location to location, but it’s possible that in order for you to regain full access and rights to your rental property, you first have to evict both the tenant and the subletting tenant.
Your legal recourse is contingent on the location of your property, and the language of the policies in your lease. If your lease is not explicit and clear about the policy of subletting, it would be best for you to fix that right away. The best course of action is stopping it before it happens when it comes to preventing subletting.
Are you currently handling a situation with a subletting tenant? There are professionals that can help you. The property management professionals at Real Property Management Prime have the experience and legal knowledge to guide you through any lease violation situations, 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 410-415-1736.
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