Breaking a Rental Property Lease

Anonymous · ‎06-17-2008

Someone recently posted about going to collections only 2 months after breaking a lease in an apartment complex due to safety issues that were VERY valid issues. To no avail a few months later the credit reports were hit with the unpaid balance......

So I assume others have had a 'breaking lease' issue and I am curious to hear stories both bad and preferably good!!!

My issue is most certainly minor to the orignal poster but it got me wondering what other's experiences were?

As for myself I will probably break my house rental 2 months early due to relocation and am hoping it can work out. The lease has no early out or break lease clause...it is silent on the issue so my understanding is that I win because i am the unsophisticated signer?? ;-)

Message Edited by 1111mel on 06-17-2008 10:24 PM

Anonymous · ‎06-18-2008

If I were put in the situation where valid safety issues caused me to want to leave, I would probably file suit against the apartment complex as there is usually a maintenance or some sort of property safety clause in the contract.

At least here is VA it is only $54 to file suit, so it's not financially devastating. Once they get notice of the suit, have a lawyer send them a letter agreeing to drop the suit if they let you out of your contract with no penalty.

With no issues, I'm not sure. You could always try reasoning with them to try and lower the fee perhaps? It would be better to get $100 than to not get anything right?

Anonymous · ‎06-18-2008

I broke a lease with a townhome because we were so miserable with our neighbors and the lack of privacy. I went to the manager and was honest about our situation and she told us that if we could find someone else to rent it that she would break the lease and I would not owe any money on the rest of the lease....took less than a month and we were renting a nice home with a big yard.

llecs · ‎06-18-2008

Like FretlessMayhem, I too live in VA. While living in Norfolk, I signed a lease with 3 others on an old house by ODU's campus. Rent was $1000 per month and excluded utilities and we also forked out a $1000 down payment.

Quickly learned that two of my roommates could not pay the monthly rent. Tried to negotiate with the landlord, but threatened eviction instead. So, I consulted with my law professor and she said she would charge me for advice or I could check out VA's Landlord - Tenant Act. So I did.

I found a provision in there that states that the lease could be voided if there were unfixed safety issues. I could point out these issue to the landlord and I would have to give him 30 days to repair each of them, and if he did, then I would be stuck with the lease, or if he didn't, we could get out. So I told my roommates what we were doing and advised them to look for a new place and that we weren't going to pay for them anymore.

So, I had the Fire Marshall come out and he gave me a list of things that needed to be repaired ASAP. From my best recollection, here is that list:

1) Repair the cabinets (plugged appliances were falling through the surface)

2) Repair the outlet used for the refrigerator (there was an electrical fire there)

3) Provide proper ventilation for the gas furnace (Fire Marshall actually shut off the gas that day - detected a carbon monoxide leak)

4) Repair the half-bath floor (there was a hole in the floor leading to the ground - gave us something to look at while in the bathroom)

5) Remove all flammable materials from under the house (landlord kept a gas can and old rags under the house)

6) Fix the bannister (there was no bannister going up the stairs)

7) Fix the electical outlet in the living room (No joke, roomie's cat rubbed against some exposed wires and was shocked. Burnt the tail)

8) Replace the wall at the fire place (there was a fire before us and the landlord just put new drywall in front of the wall rather than removing it; structural issue)

9) Take care of the flea infestation (It moved in with a friend after the first 2 months - fleas everywhere. **bleep** cat)

10) Install new locks (no deadbolt)

11) Remove exposed nails in floors (nail heads were exposed in floor. Impossible to walk barefoot)

.....and about 4 others I can't remember.

So I hand delivered this list and waited and waited. Right at 30 days I turned in my keys to him. He started to yell at me and threatened to sue. Also said that he would sue my parents. Never understood that one. I signed the lease. I was 21 then.

So, he appearantly came the following weekend. Turned out later that two of my roommates never even moved out! I guess they thought I was kidding. I know this was illegal, but he took their stuff and refused to return it. I didn't care. I was out of there!

Message Edited by llecs on 06-18-2008 12:50 PM

Message Edited by llecs on 06-18-2008 12:51 PM

Message Edited by llecs on 06-18-2008 04:01 PM

Anonymous · ‎06-18-2008

We moved out of a house in NC with full permission of the landlord. I even kept his voicemail. Then he decided a few months later (when he couldn't rent it back out) that he wanted to "sue" us for the remainder of the lease -- which was a whopping one month. He paid some lawyer $50 to write a letter.. So I got smart & researched the Landlord/Tenant laws in NC. And wrote back with a list of the things he had violated.

1. Making us mow lawn on the property.. turns out, in NC a tenant isn't supposed to take care of yard maintenance unless it's specifically mentioned in the lease.

2. Having us continue to live in the house after a tree fell on the roof & deck of the other half of the house. Need I say more?

The lawnmowing thing wasn't major, but as I put in my letter, if you take the cost of what he would have paid a lawn service, as required by law, to mow the 1/2 acre every two weeks, times 11 months, then we more than paid that last month in rent simply by doing this task for him... not even touching the issue of living with a hole in the roof & damage to the deck & windows because of a tree that we had requested -- in writing -- be cut down because it was dead & leaning towards the house.

The lawyer never even responded back. I was only 21, but even then I was so full of self-righteousness, lol

Anonymous · ‎06-18-2008

i find it strange you'd get hassled over 1 months rent when a normal landlord would just agree to the lease breaking and keep the security deposit

and to the person who moved in with exposed wires and nails int the floor, are there no occupancy permits required?!! jeez! there should be more protections for tenants in those states, to avoid lawsuits and problems. or it could be the bum landlord didn't bother getting an occupancy permit. unfortunately that kind of garbage happens all the time

personally, if someone made an offer to PFD me for unpaid rent, i'd do it in a heartbeat. normally landlords expect to never see that money

llecs · ‎06-18-2008

katecrime wrote:

...and to the person who moved in with exposed wires and nails int the floor, are there no occupancy permits required?!! jeez! there should be more protections for tenants in those states, to avoid lawsuits and problems. or it could be the bum landlord didn't bother getting an occupancy permit. unfortunately that kind of garbage happens all the time

If I recall the law at that time (may still be that way as far as I know), occupancy permits aren't required/issued. It becomes a matter of the tenant using due diligence in pointing out problems/requests to the prosepective landlord prior to signing the lease. That is something we didn't do. It was all of our first experience in renting (other than the dorms). It was out fault for jumping into it the way we did. Lesson learned.

Anonymous · ‎06-18-2008

It was really strange, Kate. Personally, I think he just couldn't get the place rented as quick as he thought he could and wanted to get some easy money... they were in hell b/c they bought what the bank told them they could afford, instead of what they knew they could afford, so they were strapped. But, if they'd told us we couldn't leave one month early, we would have just waited the extra 30 days, ya know??

Anonymous · ‎06-18-2008

@Anonymous wrote:
It was really strange, Kate. Personally, I think he just couldn't get the place rented as quick as he thought he could and wanted to get some easy money... they were in hell b/c they bought what the bank told them they could afford, instead of what they knew they could afford, so they were strapped. But, if they'd told us we couldn't leave one month early, we would have just waited the extra 30 days, ya know??

Right! I think a FOAD or ESAD letter would have been appropriate at that point.

Anonymous · ‎06-18-2008

i really hate hearing stories like this. i like my properties to look nice, be safe and be filled with nice tenants.

unfortunately, a lot of times slum lords outnumber good landlords.

well at any rate, i offer my services to help anyone wanting to GW or PFD a landlord.