Breaking an Apartment Lease?

[nookiebandit]

Has anyone ever had to or wanted to leave an apartment lease early? Say halfway in to the terms. What is the most common penalty or issues you encountered?

[bigdog0311]

usually, if you pay the "reletting fee" which is in your lease agreement you signed, they will let you out of your lease, any and all deposits you paid are forfeited, however. Now if the apartments are liable for something, for instance, something that needs to be repaired or fixed, that they are responsible for, they must do it, and if it is not done in a timely manner, then they are in violation of that lease and you can give them a 72 hour vacate notice, then they HAVE to pay you your deposits back.

[Juan Pablo de Marco]

i've had to do it before, because of changing jobs/locations. the terms are in the lease agreement you signed when you moved in. usually a penalty of a couple months rent...but it all depends on the lease you signed. of course you can just pack up and leave, but the management will outsource their attempt to collect to one of those agencies that will hound you to the gates of hell to collect at least some of the money you legally owe.

JPdM

[nookiebandit]

I haven't actually seen the lease agreement yet. I was assessing risk at this point having never experienced breaking a lease in DFW, but this gives me a good idea. Thanks guys.

[txirishman]

I used to do collections for one of the largest apartment companies in the nation.

IF you break your lease-you can be subject to accelerated rent, reletting fee, any concessions you were given when you signed, and rent boosted retroactive to "market rent"-in addition to any repairs or cleaning they feel you owe them for since you aren't doing a walk thru with them.

Accelerated rent is the total sum of the rent through the end of the lease. They have to try to rent the apartment-can't "double dip"-but renting that apartment can be LOW priority if they feel they can get you for any of the rent.

Reletting fee is usually equal to 85% of one month's rent--found in clause 11 of the standard TAA lease.

Concessions would be IF they gave you a free month rent for signing a one year lease--or whatever the term. That amount would be due back.

Market rent is that EXORBITANT rate that nobody pays. It's like MSRP on jewelry. Still-your TAA lease will likely indicate "market rate was $X"--you're renting for $Y. If there's $100 difference (often MUCH more) then look for them to go back to the beginning of the lease and add ALL that back as "DUE."

It's not uncommon for the apartment community to throw together a "receipt" of sorts showing the disposition of your meager deposit. It's required by law-within 30 days--sent to the "last known address." IF you left in the dark of night with no forwarding address-don't be surprised to find the total balance (including accelerated rent through the end) slammed ASAP on your credit report. This is to prevent you from leasing somewhere else quickly-and is their best protection in getting SOME money out of you!

Good luck..it's a very landlord/property management friendly document.

[durango95]

well said TxIrishman

[cptjohnstone]

Originally Posted by Juan Pablo de Marco

i've had to do it before, because of changing jobs/locations. the terms are in the lease agreement you signed when you moved in. usually a penalty of a couple months rent...but it all depends on the lease you signed. of course you can just pack up and leave, but the management will outsource their attempt to collect to one of those agencies that will hound you to the gates of hell to collect at least some of the money you legally owe.

JPdM

I have had a bad year, probably the worst in 30 years but the long term still looks good. Anyway, I am behind on a car payment and these folks are calling 8 times a day, so I googled "debt collections". It says if I fax a cease and desist order that any communications will now have to be in writing and it worked.

When I moved out of my Garland rent house my landlady send me certified letter on why I would not get my $1300 rent deposit. She said I caused her to have termites because there were some leaves in an alcove. I did not run the sprinkler system which caused foundation problems. The list went on and on. I replied most people check for termites once a year and we had a record rain fall the last year. There was no check out list. Another anyway, I say screw her, she screwed me out of $1300 and I am awarding myself triple damages. I am out of state now, so what can she do to me? Nothing

[nookiebandit]

Originally Posted by durango95

well said TxIrishman

Likewise. Some good info there. Thanks!

[txirishman]

Cptjohnstone-I empathize. Believe me-all collectors are not the shouting gorillas you might think. In fact-the best collectors, are those who have faced collection. That said-when you sent the collection company the "cease and desist" you DID stop the collection calls. BUT-you also limited their potential actions. Often times (not always)-when we received a "cease and desist" from a debtor-we (at the collection agency) would refer the debt back to the original creditor or owner of the debt. FDCPA (fair debt collection practices act) only applies to the actions of a third party agency-not the original or new owner of the debt. When our hands were tied (at the agency level) with a "cease and desist"-we would often refer it back and depending on debt size and assets available-we would recommend for suit. SO-that silence you hear--no calls--may be them seeking a more aggressive strategy. Not saying you did anything wrong-just beware.

As for your landlord. Sounds like she owned the house you rented and is not too knowledgeable about her rights. Good for you. Her keeping your deposit was the least she was entitled to-for breaking the lease (assuming you did or you would have done a "walk thru" in hopes of getting your deposit back.) She'll have to have the termites exterminated, the damage repaired and foundation fixed--all at her expense apparently since you've washed your hands of it due to your bad year. That said-IF your lease said you were responsible for certain things-like running the sprinkler system a few times a week and lawn care that kept leaves away from the house--then you screwed her over and shouldn't feel boastfully proud of it.

Bottom line. Shit happens. Bad years happen. But we should try to minimize the damage we do to others who trusted us with their assets--whether its a credit card company that paid for your vacations and meals and gas --or a landlord that trusted you would be responsible through your lease as the day you presented yourself hoping to lease from them. Anything less-is cruel and irresponsible--and in my experience, will come back and bite you.

And I don't mean to preach or offend or kick anyone when they're down-it just is how it is.

[Whirlaway]

I know apartment management people and when they hear "environmental issues" they tend to shrivel up.

I would suggest you think about how your environment may be "contaminated" making you sick: dirty duct work, mites in carpeting, mold (real or imagined is a biggie), asbestos as well (cough cough), especially in pre-1980s buildings. Do you have the old popcorn ceilings? If so, you most likely have asbestos, something on those lines.

You might not get out of penalty payments, but I bet they negotiate with you. the last thing they want is to defend an environmental issue - real or imagined.

[TexRich]

try the midnight move!

[txirishman]

Try being honest with the landlord and see if you don't have the best result.

"The apartment seems to have more crime than I'm comfortable with-what would it take to get out of my lease-rather than lie or 'midnight move' on you?"

"I took a cut in pay at work and can't afford it here"

"My job laid me off and I can't afford to live here. Rather than live here free and force you to file an eviction-what can we do?"

I know that alot of us cheat on our significant others and do other less than honorable things so we can justify enjoying the "hobby"-but we don't HAVE to be douche bags in ALL areas of our lives.