A landlord’s dos and don’ts
Several years ago, Bennie Waller gave a renter a discount on an apartment because he agreed to sign a two-year lease.
“Thirty days after he moved in, he got transferred, and he said, ‘Well, I’m going to move out’,” said Waller, 50, a real-estate professor who owns several rental properties with his wife in Virginia. He learned the hard way to add a cancelation clause. “If you walk away early, you can buy your lease out for three months’ rent.”