questions & answers

Question: I own a 55+ senior Rv community. A person living in a park model passed away. Their relatives have been trying to sell it. They paid the yearly rent (which is at a substantial discount). Two months later they received an offer on their home and now want a refund or partial refund of the rent. Now I have several signs in the office that states there are no prorations or refunds on rent. They are telling me that it's against the law that I rerent the space once they leave unless they sign a release allowing me to do so. Am I able to rent the space once they leave without refunding them?

Answer: If a tenant/occupant leaves prior to the end of the lease/rental agreement term they are still liable to pay rent for the remainder of the term. HOWEVER you are required to "mitigate" you damages and use good faith efforts to re-let the space. If you do so you must refund any unearned rent to the prior tenant. You can only collect from the original tenant for the time the space is unoccupied. You can not collect rent from two people for the same space