Relief

After acting weird, asking me if I was going to sell the place out from under her and kick her out, and complaining that I charge too much rent, and now I am talking about raising it (out of the goodness of my heart, I had warned her that her rent would probably increase)....my tenant has decided to renew our lease for another year.

I had emailed two realtors back home back in June and July, knowing that I needed to get the renewal ball rolling...but neither of them responded. At all.

I recently decided that I wanted to add a clause to the lease agreement stating that I require 45 days' "move out" notice. If I don't get that notice, you don't get your deposit back.

This was the result of my tenant freaking me out by saying that she'd been looking for someplace else to live because 1) she wasn't sure of my intentions (even though I had told her three times over the past few months that I was going to offer her a renewal option), and 2) because she had talked to others in the complex, and had been convinced that she was being over charged on rent, and I had warned her that her rent might even GO UP. *rolling eyes*

SO--I realized this past weekend that if I was to add that 45 day clause, I needed to be sure she had the renewal option in her hands, with that addendum to the lease, before August 15th!!

It takes the mail 4 days to get from here to the condo, and vise versa. Today is the 9th.

I could not WAIT any longer for a realtor to respond to my pleas for help, if I wanted my tenant to have the legal option to notify me of her intent to vacate.

I decided I had to do this myself, and NOW.

So, yesterday, I went on line, and I found what I hope will be a suitable and legally binding renewal form. I copy/pasted it into my word processing program, and I filled it all in.

I then sent her an email stating that it's on it's way. And I held my breath.

Tonight, I got a jubilant email back from her stating how happy she is that I am going to "let her" live there for another year.

Whatever. Just sign the form.

Heh.

*deep breath*

Anyway, apparently, her son has moved out. Some of you may recall that she had him move in with her secretly at the beginning of the lease last year. Someone on the condo board had called me to tell me of this infringement, and I insisted that the tenant submit an addendum to the lease, to include his name and signature, since he is a legal adult.

She complied, got the form notarized, and sent it back to me. Done. He lived in the dining room, since it's a one bedroom condo.

But, apparently, she forgot to tell me when he moved out. I am GLAD he moved out, don't get me wrong....but she should probably have told me.

So, she has her instructions. The renewal form went out in the mail before 8 am today, and I can relax a little.

Oh, and I didn't raise her rent. She won't be as lucky next year...given that MY expenses for owning the stupid condo will probably go up about $50 a month.

Anyway.
I will REALLY breathe easy when the form is returned to me, signed and witnessed...but for now, I feel better. Maybe I will sleep tonight.