Tenant rights for early lease termination - FAY/Hope Mills (apartment complex, rental)

[Charlie9]

I am in a situation where my government contract was cut with only 2 weeks notice (no severance package). I provided full disclosure with my apartment complex (The Astoria in Hope Mills NC) and was told that the sooner I move out, the better so that they can get the unit re-rented. I officially vacated the apartment over 3 weeks ago and they have yet to advertise my apartment as available and when I checked on the status I found that it was not even ready to rent. My rights as a tenant are being violated because they are not making a reasonable effort to re-rent the unit (see law below). I even sent someone to the complex who was willing to rent the unit starting July 1st and she was told it was not available.

This is because under North Carolina law (Isbey v. Crews, 284 S.E.2d 534 (N.C. Ct. App. 1981)), your landlord must make reasonable efforts to re-rent your unit—no matter what your reason for leaving—rather than charge you for the total remaining rent due under the lease

What can I do to 1) terminate my lease and 2) help in this situation because I am being avoided.

Thanks in advance for any help or guidance of what to do

[faabala]

Small claims court.

[JONOV]

This belongs in the rental section.

But, you will have to go to small claims court about it, IF they even bother to take you there for it. They may not come after you.

[spankys bbq]

In my experience, 3-4 weeks to have an apartment ready to rent is not unusual. If there are other apartments vacant they are the first priority. Just because you move out doesn't mean they drop what they're doing to tend to your apartment. They may be trying to get another apartment ready where the tenant was in the same situation.

You can try to file in small claims court, but I highly doubt it will end in your favor. Actually, at this point, I can't see where you would even have a reason to file and feel like if you kick the hornets nest you might not like what comes of it. Not much motivates a landlord to go after someone more than a tenant trying to tell them how they should do their job or that they're not doing it right.