Comm Lessee skips out of lease agreement

My mom has a comm bldg and one of the lessees took a hike, collected all of his inventory and left the keys with the manager with a note saying that his business is failing and that the $500 a month break on the rent didn’t help enough.

Two months ago he asked for a $500 discount on his $2500/month rent on a remaining 1.5 years lease contract. He got the discount for a 3 month period with the promise to pay it back before the end of the lease.

Now he’s gone without a trace. The management company says to not bother chasing him, it’ll just cost $$$ hiring a lawyer, etc.

Other than changing the locks,
Is there anything we should do that wouldn’t cost $$$?
How about using a Skip tracer?

The guy is probably broke, but smart enough to take his inventory, which was probably worth a few months rent.
He did say in the note he forfeits his $3k deposit.

Are their any legal ramifications when a lessee disappears?
Are there any tax reporting considerations on losses due to this event?

rws

the best thing to do is talk to a local lawyer. every state is different.

Get your judgment. It’s good for 10 years in most states. Evaluate the collectability of the tenant before you actually attempt collection.

i’m most states you have to midigate losses.

Talk to a lawyer first. getting a judgement might cost more than you think and collecting on it might even be harder. every state is different with these things

Awwww - he forfeits his deposit. Isn’t that nice? Ya think?! I’m glad he let you know that in case you were wondering…

Did he personally guarantee the lease? If yes, definately talk to attorney.