Tenant terminated lease early; how do I proceed?

[Green_landlord]

I received notice from my tenant that they were moving out of the home and giving essentially 2 days notice. I received both verbal and written confirmation. The tenant moved out on Sept 4th (3 months early) and asked I apply their security deposit for August rent since they never paid it. They stated I mis-represented the home prior to signing the rental agreement and as a result they are terminating the lease. In the following 2 weeks the tenant verbally acknowledged the house was not at fault but rather he was on the verge of bankruptcy and moved his family to a cheaper home (1 block away). During this conversation the tenant agreed to fix all damage that was above normal wear and tear and perform additional work to help work off his debt from the lease agreement. The tenant kept possession of the home for the ensuing two months making slow progress but only addressing things above normal wear and tear. During this time we put the house up for sale and prepared to market it for sale.

After approximately two months the tenant stated that he was to busy to perform any additional work on the house and he would hand over the keys, which he did. ( Approximately 1 month after receiving this notice I assembled a complete list of items above reasonable wear and tear including back rent and sent it to him on Dec 1st. He replied on Dec 6th that he was denying all charges and reiterated he moved out due to my misrepresentation of the house.

My question is: Can I still sue him for back rent and damages? I am unclear when he actually relinquished possession and when I needed to send him a listing of damages within the 30 day period. Additionally, does the 30 day clause apply since he forfeited his deposit in lieu of back rent for the month of Aug? Lastly, if I did send the notice to late can I still sue for back rent and what kind of proof would I need to supply to prove my court case? He alleges that water seeps in the basement during heavy rains (which is true) and I failed to disclose this (which is false because I did disclose this verbally and in writing in the form of a residential disclosure). He also states that a rain storm that occured on 8/30/07 was the tipping point to move, however he signed his new rental agreement before this date and had started moving out 2 days later.

Any advice people can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[cjh]

Your tenant relinquished possession when he returned the keys to you. You should have mailed that list of damages to him within 30 days of receiving the keys. It sounds like you did this with a complete list of damages beyond wear and tear. Did you list amounts for these items and show each as a deduction from his deposit? Did you list his unpaid rent as a damage on this accounting page? You must account for his deposit per OH law and cannot just keep it. Did you write a receipt for August's rent showing you used his deposit for this? (You should not allow a tenant to use his deposit for the last month's rent and should not allow them to continue to keep possession of the property without paying rent, even if they are repairing their damages.)

What does he say you misrepresented about the property and how? The water seeping into a basement doesn't seem sufficient to break a lease. This area wasn't living space, was it? Then why should it be a deal breaker? If you have this listed on a residential disclosure statement, he cannot use this. Why was a little seepage a problem? Was it causing mold? Was it a living area?

Remember if you pursue a court case for for breaking the lease, that you must make diligent efforts to re-rent the unit as soon as possible. Most judges will only allow you one or two months of rent for this period. You will have to show that you tried to rent it out during the period you want the ex-tenant to pay for.