What Happens If My Tenant Goes to Jail?

The Big Picture on What Happens If Your Tenant Goes To Jail:

Prevent issues by conducting thorough background checks and including clauses in the lease agreement that allow eviction for criminal activity or felony convictions. While prevention is ideal, even the most careful landlords may face this situation.

Confirm the tenant’s incarceration and maintain communication to assess their intentions regarding the lease. Questions about rent payments, other tenants, or secondary renters can help determine the best course of action.

Landlords must understand state and local laws when handling leases with incarcerated tenants. Options include continuing the lease, arranging mutual termination, or pursuing eviction. Consulting a lawyer ensures compliance with legal obligations, especially in sensitive cases like domestic violence.

No landlord thinks their tenant will end up in prison. And yet.

Rental properties offer plenty of upsides, like consistent passive income and investing in an asset that is likely to appreciate in value over time. But they also come with their fair share of risks and downsides, mostly centered around people. From bad contractors to professional tenants or unreliable renters, landlords often get stuck holding the bag when the people around them mess up.

If you think your renter is incarcerated, you’re likely wondering what to do if your tenant goes to jail. Fortunately, there’s a simple procedure you should follow in this surprisingly common event. Follow this step-by-step guide to learn what to do if your tenant goes to jail.

What Happens If My Tenant Goes to Jail: a Step-by-Step Guide

As a landlord, you can and should avoid jailbound tenants through some simple prevention tactics. A good tenant screening service can do wonders here, as the most accurate predictor for future crimes is (drum roll) a history of committing crimes. You should also include a lease clause stating that criminal activity or a felony conviction constitutes grounds for eviction. Some due diligence is better than asking your tenant, “What happens to your apartment when you go to jail?” 

However, even the most prepared landlords may still be in this situation. If you do, here are the steps to protect yourself.

Step 1: Confirm Your Tenant Is in Jail

First things first: make sure your tenant is incarcerated. You may do this by contacting other tenants or the contacts listed on their lease agreement and confirming with your local or state database. 

From there, communication is key. Your options are limited here, but you can achieve your desired outcome if you tread carefully.

Step 2: Get in Touch with Your Tenant

Once you know your tenant is in prison, you must contact them or another tenant on the lease, if there is one.

You may be able to speak to them through their lawyer or a third party who is in contact with them. Try to avoid calling their workplace or other contacts. But if you have to, refrain from directly mentioning that you think your tenant is in jail — just say you’re looking to contact them and see if they can provide you with any information.

Communicating with your tenant will help determine the next steps you need to take. Here are some questions to ask your tenant:

Do you know how long you will be in custody?
Are you able to pay rent while you’re incarcerated?
Do other tenants on the rental agreement understand that you must pay the full rent even if you are no longer contributing?
Are there any secondary renters who may want to take over the lease while you are in prison?

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Step 3: Know Your Options

Once you understand how things look from your tenant’s perspective, you can decide how to proceed. You should be familiar with the local, state, and federal laws that apply here, so brush up on your knowledge before you make any moves.

Overall, these are some general options:

1: Continue the Lease As-Is

Yes, you can collect rent in jail. This is the easiest option if your tenant wants to retain their lease and can continue paying rent on time. It saves you from serving an eviction notice, going to court, removing their belongings, going through a turnover, and advertising the vacant unit. However, this tends only to work if multiple tenants and one or more of them continue living in the property.

2: Ask Tenant to Certify That Property Is Vacated or Abandoned

If your incarcerated tenant does not wish to continue their lease or has no other recourse, you can ask them to certify that they have officially vacated the rental.

This allows you to terminate the lease agreement mutually before the term ends. You’ll need to devise a plan for dealing with the tenant’s personal property. They’ll need to sign off here, too, and it’s best practice to have such a document notarized.

Next, the question: if someone goes to jail and leaves his or her belongings, what do I do with them?

Your first recourse is to ask the tenant for a contact to remove all their belongings from the unit. Ensure the tenant knows you’ll charge them for removing any abandoned property and cleaning the unit if their contact fails to do so properly. And, of course, be careful to follow all local laws when dealing with abandoned property.

Step 4: Pursue Legal Eviction for Non-Payment if No Other Routes Exist

If you’ve exhausted all other options and can’t reach a satisfactory agreement with your tenant, or if they quit paying rent, you may have to file for eviction. Nonpayment of rent constitutes a legal reason when a landlord can break a lease agreement.

As always, follow all applicable laws during this process. Otherwise, you’ll probably be responsible for the unit’s cleanout costs.

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Special Considerations: When to Contact a Lawyer

What if your tenant goes to jail for domestic violence? Allowing them to remain on the lease may seem dangerous to you and other tenants. 

Here, you can’t evict victims of domestic violence if they remain on the property after the perpetrator went to prison. However, you may be able to split the lease agreement and remove the perpetrator while allowing the other tenants to remain. You’ll want to contact a lawyer to help you in this case.

And what if an evicted tenant sues you or takes any other kind of legal action against you during this process? Unfortunately, even the most comprehensive landlord insurance plans typically don’t cover legal liability in cases like this. However, they will protect your property and possessions should an angry tenant seek revenge in the case of an eviction.

When you learn your tenant is in jail, consulting with a lawyer may be your best bet to protect yourself from liability. Consider having one review your lease contract: they can help you write a clause that allows you to evict tenants with felony convictions. 

Can a Person Be Evicted While in Jail?

Yes, a person can be evicted while in jail, though the process varies depending on state laws and specific circumstances. Here are some considerations:

Aspect
Details

Ongoing Eviction Process
Eviction can proceed even if the person is incarcerated; being in jail does not stop the legal process.

Notice Requirements
Notices are usually sent to the tenant’s address, though some states allow sending to family members or the jail if the landlord knows of the incarceration.

Court Proceedings
Tenant may miss hearings, leading to default judgments in favor of the landlord. Some courts allow requests for continuance or representation by a legal proxy.

Lease Obligations & Rent
Tenant is still responsible for rent unless alternative arrangements are made. Non-payment often leads to eviction.

Special Protections
Tenants may have protections if incarceration is linked to domestic violence or discrimination under local laws.

Possessions in Unit
Landlord may need to store personal items for a set period after eviction before disposing of them.

Legal Assistance
Incarcerated individuals are advised to seek legal help; family or advocates may assist with communication and rent payments.

 

Protect Yourself if Your Tenant Goes to Jail

If you follow the steps above, you should be in good shape if your tenant goes to jail. Remember, a tenant background check, a good lawyer, a well-worded lease agreement, and landlord insurance are all tools you can keep in your back pocket.

It’s a cliche for a reason: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

 

How do you prevent finding yourself with a jailed tenant? What have you done if you have had a renter go to prison?

 

 

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