Tenant breach of contract

[evansi64]

i HAD A TENANT SIGN A 3 YEAR LEASE WITH ME IN EXCHANGE FOR THE FIRST 3 MONTHS FOR FREE DUE TO HER PREVIOUS PLACE HAVING BUGS. SHE INFORMED ME SHE STILL WAS PAYING ON THE OTHER PLACE SO THAT IS WHY I FIGURED IT WAS GOOD FOR ME TO TIE HER INTO A LONG TERM LEASE IN EXCHANGE FOR THE FIRST 3 MONTHS AT NO CHARGE. I HAD HER SIGN A 36 MONTH LEASE AND AFTER 5 MONTHS SHE HAD HER BOYFRIEND ADDED TO THE RENTAL AGREEMENT. I EVEN LISTED IN AN UPDATED CONTRACT THAT IF THE TWO WERE TO SEPERATE SHE WOULD STILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE 36 MONTH LEASE. APPROXIMATLY 3 MONTHS AFTER THAT I RECIEVED A TEXT MESSAGE INFORMING ME THAT THEY WERE RUNNING OUT OF ROOM AND HAD LOOKED AT ANOTHER APT. I INFORMED HER SHE HAD A 36 MONTH LEASE WITH ME AND DIDN'T HERE BACK UNTIL I RECIEVED A 30 DAY NOTICE. I AM SUEING HER IN SMALL CLAIMS AND THEN THEY GOT A LAWYER AND HAVE MOVED IT TO MUNICIPLE. i FEEL THAT i HAVE AN OPEN AND SHUT CASE BUT I WAS SUPRISED THEY GOT A LAWYER AND EVEN MORE SURPRISED IT WAS MOVED TO MUNICIPLE. MY QUESTION IS HOW DOES MY CASE LOOK. SHOULD I BE ABLE TO SUE FOR MORE THAN THE 3000 BECAUSE THEY HAD IT MOVED TO MUNICIPLE, SHOULD I BE CONCERNED ABOUT ANYTHING, AND SHOULD I GET MY OWN LAWYER. THANK YOU FOR READING

 

[mightymoose]

You sue for your actual damages. You must make a good faith effort to rent to another tenant. She will owe you for reasonable cost of advertising and any lost rent in the mean time, but not for the balance of the lease. If you do not make a good faith effort to rent to someone else and minimize your loss you could lose your argument altogether.
Has she already moved out? If not then you are premature with court since you do not yet have a loss or know its value.
You might have some luck avoiding court if you simply offer a reasonable settlement to cover the cost of finding a new tenant.
Personal opinion- you should not enter into such long lease agreements with the expectation they go full term.