lease break 1 mo before the date (lawyer, relocation, debt)

[migurus]

I plan on breaking my 6 mo lease 1 mo before the lease end date and I gave notice to my landlord some 6 weeeks in advance. I have been living in this place for 12 yrs and expected manager to waive the ealy termination fee (1 mo rent amnt), but he said no way and mentioned they would return my security deposit instead. I then said I will not be in a hurry to leave on 1st of month since I would pay for it. He said No, please change the notice, we have new tenants moving in on 5th (!)

Now, do I have a chance legally challenge the fee? Landlord will be collecting double rent for the month, it does not look fare.

Your help or legal info is greatly appreciated!

[ImRandy]

It comes down to what's in your lease agreement. Going back 12 years I doubt the penalty was a full month's rent unless you've been signing new leases since then instead of supplementals. If your lease says it's one month then that's what you owe. If it says a smaller amount (more common for a decade old lease) then that's what you owe.

From your perspective it looks like double rent. It isn't. It's a fee you're allowed to pay to break the lease and a new renter. It's only confusing because the dollar amount of the fee and the rent are the same.

[mommabear2]

I don't think you stand a chance challenging the fee. It doesn't matter if your landlord is moving someone in. Ultimately the fee was there to discourage you from breaking the lease. The law goes by the lease agreement, if it says you have to pay x amount if you break the lease then your binded by that.

[UseJeff]

Regardless of what happens, be sure you get something on their letterhead clearing you of all future liabilities. I was verbally released 6 months early because I was offered a great job opportunity in another city, much to far to commute to. Very cool property manager, and I was too naive to have protected myself. 2 years later, a new manager was there. They audited their books, found me, and have been trying to collect the debt ever since.

[GreenMachine]

No, the landlord can only charge you if the apartment is left vacant. If he has someone new moving in, he can't charge you. Put everything in writing.

greenmachine

[mommabear2]

Ultimately, the landlord CAN charge a tenant a termination fee. If a landlord wanted to he/she could force a tenant to pay rent until the end of the contract even if the unit is vacant - until it is reoccupied. Termination fee and rent are two different things. If a landlord kicks a tenant out he's penalized with relocation fees so, it is not a far fetch that a tenant would be penalized for breaking a lease.

[migurus]

Thanks guys.
I see two different and quite opposing opinions here regarding my chance of challenging the fee. Is there a law that covers this type of circumstance?
- Mi

[VeloSol]

I believe there's a consensus in the comments - ImRandy may have put it best by saying that it's confusing because the rent amount and the termination fee are the same number of dollars. The landlord can charge you the termination fee if it is in your lease agreement because you are breaking the lease. You will NOT be paying rent for that last month, you are paying a fee agreed upon in your lease (based on the information you've given us) and a new tenant is moving in and starting their own lease.

Think about it this way: If you were breaking your lease with 3 months left on it and the manager asked for the fee you weren't paying for an extra months rent, just paying to have the privilege of breaking the lease. If the apartment went unfilled for the next three months that fee helps the manager/landlord cover their losses, which is actually twice the amount of the monthly rent.

All that said, I am not a lawyer, and if you had a good relationship with the manager it might be nice for him to wave the fee, but it does not seem like he has any legal obligation to as it is not an amount collected for rent, but for early termination of the lease.

You could consult a lawyer about the situation, but you'd probably end up spending more money on counsel than if you just ate the fee - perhaps a friend who's more familiar with the law, or someone else on this forum has more information.

-VeloSol

[kettlepot]

Ask user Paula Lynn. She's a property manager, highly knowledgeable, and just the best at this kind of a question.

And if she answers be sure to give her rep a boost. She deserves it.

[JackSparrow]

Why bother. Just pay up for the last month.

Some people's kids...