If you lose your job, but you're in the middle of a lease... (rental, lender)
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...what options do you have? I mean, obviously you're not trying to screw the apartment owners, particularly if you were laid off due to a downturn in business. Do you have options in this case? Will your credit record be tarnished for the rest of your life? Do the rules vary by state?
This is just something I think about from time to time and (knock on wood) isn't something that I've ever had to deal with.
Thanks for the insight.
You may have some landlords and some tenants responding to your question. I am not a landlord but I was a tenant once. From my experience, in many states, the judges/courts tend to favor tenants. In some cases, in could take as many as 3-4 months to evict someone. Obviously, such tenant would cause more headaches for a landlord vs someone like you (based on your question).
It's true that a lease is a legal document that can be enforced. However, I am not aware of a single case where a tenant, who broke the lease was forced to pay for the remainder of the term.
If you have a landlord playing hardball, I'd let them know that due to unemployment, you need to find another tenant in your place.
Keep in mind, that you can make their lives even more miserable. I don't want to give you any wrong ideas, but lets just say that when it comes to landlording, a tenant has a lot more rights than a landlord. If I were a landlord and my tenant lost their job and was willing to move out before their lease was up, I'd keep their deposit if I had less than 30 day notice but would return their depost if they gave me at least a 30 day notice and left the place in broom swept condition.
You could end up paying multiple months worth of rent for a unit you are not occupying.
Right, and this is the part I just don't understand. Why should you get charged for something you are not using or that you can't pay anyways, particularly due to something happening that was of no fault of your own (like a lay off, which can't be predicted and has nothing to do with you not being responsible)? It's like adding insult to injury. Hey, you're U/E, now pay me several months of future rent for an apartment that you will not be using. It's not like most people don't want to have a place of their own and prefer to live in their parents' basement.
You may have some landlords and some tenants responding to your question. I am not a landlord but I was a tenant once. From my experience, in many states, the judges/courts tend to favor tenants. In some cases, in could take as many as 3-4 months to evict someone. Obviously, such tenant would cause more headaches for a landlord vs someone like you (based on your question).
It's true that a lease is a legal document that can be enforced. However, I am not aware of a single case where a tenant, who broke the lease was forced to pay for the remainder of the term.
If you have a landlord playing hardball, I'd let them know that due to unemployment, you need to find another tenant in your place.
Keep in mind, that you can make their lives even more miserable. I don't want to give you any wrong ideas, but lets just say that when it comes to landlording, a tenant has a lot more rights than a landlord. If I were a landlord and my tenant lost their job and was willing to move out before their lease was up, I'd keep their deposit if I had less than 30 day notice but would return their depost if they gave me at least a 30 day notice and left the place in broom swept condition.
Good points.
Here's something you should all think about. Let's say I go to a company and we work out a one year work contract. Six months into the work contract, the company I work for becomes insolvent, and eventually shuts down. Am I entitled to pay for the remaining six months of my contract? Or am I just SOL?
I buy a refrigerator from Company XYZ. It has a ten year warranty on it to cover any malfunctions. Three years after purchasing the unit, Company XYZ declares bankruptcy and eventually goes out of business. Am I entitled to the remaining seven years of my warranty? Or, again, am I just SOL?
You guys need to realize that bad stuff happens all the time to honest, hard-working people/companies. It's unfortunate that someone may miss out on potential rent or wages, but that's just part of the cycle of human tragedy. A lot of you guys here are pro-business advocates and seem to want to place the blame on the consumer for being irresponsible. The fact is, sometimes it has nothing to do with responsibility. It has to do with misfortunes. A big part of life is luck, sadly. And if an individual entity happens to have bad luck, all parties involved just have to accept that as part of life and move forward.
Right, and this is the part I just don't understand. Why should you get charged for something you are not using or that you can't pay anyways, particularly due to something happening that was of no fault of your own (like a lay off, which can't be predicted and has nothing to do with you not being responsible)? It's like adding insult to injury. Hey, you're U/E, now pay me several months of future rent for an apartment that you will not be using. It's not like most people don't want to have a place of their own and prefer to live in their parents' basement.
"Something happening that was of no fault of your own"
I would use that same exact argument from the LL's perspective. Why should the LL suffer financial distress for something that was no fault of theirs?
Let's agree for a second that indeed the situation happened through no one's fault. Now we have two interested parties. The tenant and the LL. And let's say that it takes 3 months for the LL to fill the apartment after the tenant breaks the lease. Why is it OK for the tenant to say he shouldn't take the financial hit, but the LL should?
"Something happening that was of no fault of your own"
I would use that same exact argument from the LL's perspective. Why should the LL suffer financial distress for something that was no fault of theirs?
Let's agree for a second that indeed the situation happened through no one's fault. Now we have two interested parties. The tenant and the LL. And let's say that it takes 3 months for the LL to fill the apartment after the tenant breaks the lease. Why is it OK for the tenant to say he shouldn't take the financial hit, but the LL should?
How can you say that the Unemployed tenant is NOT taking a financial hit? I'm going to say this slooooooowwwwwllllly for you. THEY...ARE...UNEMPLOYED, meaning THEY...HAVE...NO...INCOME!
So yes, they too, are taking a financial hit.
You make it sound like the tenant has devised some devious scheme to make off on the deal and that the LL is the only person losing out. That is not true.
Face it. Tragedy is part of life. Loss is a part of life. We all want to make as much money as we possibly can, but sometimes we face obstacles like unemployment or disability or death. Like the bumper sticker reads, "$**t happens".
I would figure more LLs would be open to the idea of showing the apartment while the U/E tenant was still there, as to not essentially "waste" his money.
I am going through something similar, where I want out of my lease and am willing to stay until the LL finds another tenant so there is no downtime in rent payments but no go.
How can you say that the Unemployed tenant is NOT taking a financial hit? I'm going to say this slooooooowwwwwllllly for you. THEY...ARE...UNEMPLOYED, meaning THEY...HAVE...NO...INCOME!
So yes, they too, are taking a financial hit.
You make it sound like the tenant has devised some devious scheme to make off on the deal and that the LL is the only person losing out. That is not true.
Face it. Tragedy is part of life. Loss is a part of life. We all want to make as much money as we possibly can, but sometimes we face obstacles like unemployment or disability or death. Like the bumper sticker reads, "$**t happens".
I never said the tenant isn't taking a financial hit for being unemployed. I said in the transaction of paying rent why shouldn't they?
What if they get a new job in a month? Now the LL is out the money and the tenant is fine.
And as a practical matter, how exactly do you propose the LL validates what the tenant is saying? How does the LL make sure the tenant trully got laid off instead of just deciding to quit? Or how does the LL even validate the tenant isn't still working, but wants out of the lease?
I would figure more LLs would be open to the idea of showing the apartment while the U/E tenant was still there, as to not essentially "waste" his money.
I am going through something similar, where I want out of my lease and am willing to stay until the LL finds another tenant so there is no downtime in rent payments but no go.
It sounds like you have income, at least, to pay the LL his/her money. Imagine if you did not. What could you do then?
It sounds like you have income, at least, to pay the LL his/her money. Imagine if you did not. What could you do then?
Yes, I am employed and able to pay rent, but the situation is not a good fit for anyone living there. Not sure what that has to do with anything, though.
Does the grocery store feel sympathetic to a person who lost his job and give him free groceries?
With all the government programs out there--------food stamps, Unemployment compensation,-------it is not a grocer or landlord who is responsible for taking care of people.
We don't need landlords, grocers, or other business places absorbing the burden and going broke also.
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