Landlords seem fully prepared to give their tenants ‘notice to vacate’ but are mystified when a good tenant decides to move out (or on) without any help from the landlord. Landlords aren’t quite sure what their next step should be. My approach is to send a letter explaining how sorry I am that they are leaving (and if they were good tenants offering to be a referral in the future); how the ‘move out’ condition of the unit can affect their security deposit refund; how soon after vacating they can expect a deposit refund accounting statement (most states require deposits to be refunded within a finite time period); and, finally, wishing them well. I always include a copy of the walk-through list so the tenant will know what I’ll be checking.
