My tenants signed an one-year least and moved in March 3, 2012. They called yesterday 04/10/12 and told us they don't have money and giving ...

Question

My tenants signed an one-year least and moved in March 3, 2012. They called yesterday 04/10/12 and told us they don't have money and giving us verbal 30 days notice. What should we do? Do we serve them any paper? So far, they paid 2 months (1st and last)+deposit.

Answer

If they move at the expiration of the 30 days, you can sue them for whatever they still owe you, plus the rent for the remainder of the lease term. That having been said, you have a duty to "mitigate" your damages, which means you will need to re-rent the premises as soon as possible. If this is the case, you will need proof of what efforts you have made to re-rent the property, including the amount of money incurred by you in the re-renting process (i.e., advertising fees, broker's fees, etc.). Regardless of what your original claims are in your lawsuit, ultimately you will only be able to obtain a judgment for the amount of money they owe you, plus rent until the presmises is re-rented, plus the costs of re-renting the premises.

If they do not move at the end of the 30-day period, you will need to serve them with a 3-day notice to pay rent or quit. If they still do not move, you will then need to file an unlawful detainer action against them.