How to Handle a Lease Violation in San Juan County, NM

When a landlord encounters a lease violation at the rental property, it should be handled according to the seriousness of that violation. The actions you take will depend on what type of violation the tenant has committed.

Managing Substantial Lease Violations

A substantial lease violation that requires extreme urgency might involve a case where a law has been broken. For example, if there is an incident of domestic violence at your property or a police investigation into drug activity, you need to remove the tenant from the property. In cases of a law being broke, it’s best to issue a Three Day Notice. Your notice should state that a substantial violation of the lease has occurred and the tenant needs to leave within three days.

Managing Common Lease Violations

When there’s a less substantial violation of the lease, you can take a different course of action. For simple problems, we recommend that you issue a Seven Day Notice of Noncompliance. This will give the tenant time to correct whatever the issue may be. In our experience, these basic lease violations usually involve an unauthorized pet living at the property or unauthorized occupants moving into the home. We find out about these violations through our contact with vendors, who are often in the house doing work or conducting routine maintenance. We can also uncover such situations during inspections; we might notice additional bedding or dog dishes when there shouldn’t be.

These clues tell us that there are additional occupants at a property.  If that is the case, we Issue the notice of violation and give the tenants seven days to correct the situation. They can either remove the occupant or the pet, or they can get them approved by contacting us.

You have to make sure that you follow through and follow up. Seven days after your violation notice is issued, do an inspection, and make sure the violation has been corrected. Then, everyone can move forward.

If you need help managing lease violations, please don’t hesitate to contact us at hello@homevault.com.