HELP/ADVICE required to break the lease contract without paying termination fee (Thousand Oaks: apartment)

[youngcinci]

Hello,

Could you provide me iwith some advice and help here?

I just moved in an apartment in CA. I made an initial 4 month lease with Archstone Thousand Oaks Plaza.
I thought that it would take at least 3-4 months for us to find a right house here. That is why we made the 4 month lease contract.

Luckily or unfortunately, we have found a right house and now we would like to buy the home.

The problem is that we would have to break the lease contract. The consequence of doing it is that we would have to pay the termination fee equivalent to one month's rent ($2535 dollars) in order to be NOT liable under the lease for future rent according to the copy of the contract.

The problem is that we did not hear the portion of the contract. All we heard was that 30 days in advance notice before moving out would be required after the minimum 2 months stay here to avoid the penalties

My questions are
1. Any ways to negotiate with the company? share 50/50%
2. How can I prove that we did not get the information at the time of tour and contract.
3. Is this customary that Tenant would be responsible ?

Any sight or advice would be truly welcomed.

Thanks
YC

[katenik]

i'm sure you won't like this, but there is nothing you can do unless the landlord is willing to negotiate, which he has no reason to do, because the law is on his side.

if the termination fee is what the contract specifies, that is what you owe if you break the lease. the default position in such cases is that the tenant will owe rent on the unit through the remainder of the lease term until it is rented to someone else, with the landlord having a duty to mitigate the tenant's damages through a good faith effort to find a new tenant. so, if you are leaving after only two months, you could be stuck paying rent for another two months had there been no termination fee provision in the lease! in this case, you're getting the benefit of the deal. if you're leaving after three months, you are no worse off than you would be if you stayed the full four months, and neither is the landlord, which is the point of a lease, in the first place.

the fact that you didn't "hear", or even that they didn't verbally tell you about the termination fee, is irrelevant. a rental contract with your signature on it is the best proof a landlord could possibly have that you were aware of the provisions of the contract, and it sounds like he has one. i know it sucks, but you're going to have to pay the fee. "i didn't read it" is not a legal defense.

[greggd]

Unfortunately, you will most likely have to pay the fee if it is stated in the contract.

But the good thing is that you now have added incentive to read that loan doc. you will be signing for your new home.