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When we bought our house we just explained to the seller's that we were interested but they would have to pay some closing costs to cover the cost of breaking the lease. They did and we had a deal! It worked out for us.
I recently sold a brand new towhouse near Morrisville that was just setting there, in inventory.
The builder was so happy to have buyers that we asked for the builder to pay the monies it would take to pay off his lease and they agreed!!!
I know people who simply moved out, returned keys, forfeited their security deposit and that's it. Depending on the amount you still owe there is not much a landlord may be willing to do. Spending thousands on a lawyer to get a court judgement against you doesn't always worth it. Most people don't say this because they don't want to encourage "irresponsible" behavior. If you ask me, nothing irresponsible here. Don't need the place no more, ain't gonna pay for it. As simple as that.
I know people who simply moved out, returned keys, forfeited their security deposit and that's it. Depending on the amount you still owe there is not much a landlord may be willing to do. Spending thousands on a lawyer to get a court judgement against you doesn't always worth it. Most people don't say this because they don't want to encourage "irresponsible" behavior. If you ask me, nothing irresponsible here. Don't need the place no more, ain't gonna pay for it. As simple as that.
Breaking a contract you signed is irresponsible in my book and could wreck your credit history too.
Negotiating is fine..
I know people who simply moved out, returned keys, forfeited their security deposit and that's it. Depending on the amount you still owe there is not much a landlord may be willing to do. Spending thousands on a lawyer to get a court judgement against you doesn't always worth it. Most people don't say this because they don't want to encourage "irresponsible" behavior. If you ask me, nothing irresponsible here. Don't need the place no more, ain't gonna pay for it. As simple as that.
Someone doing as you describe may be sued or assigned to a collection agency. This will ding their credit report and FICO score for at least 7 years, 10 if they are sued and the creditor gets a judgment.
In addition, doing as you say will make them a leper in the rental world, much worse than a bad credit score. If the person doing this ever tries to rent again, they will probably not even be considered with a co-signer or high deposit.
Right now, many complexes are near 100% leased and will usually release a tenant with reasonable notice and a settlement.
My advice is to think hard before walking out on a lease. Anyone doing so may deeply regret their decision if they need to re-enter the rental market in the future, even if they are buying a property right now.
Famous saying "Don't burn your bridges behind you".
Apartment companies seem to be more flexible, but I wanted to share my story.
I lived in a rental home with landlords I don't miss for a few years and I was a good tenant. I found a house I wanted to buy and the leasing company wanted to charge me fees to list the home /put a lockbox on the house when I had two months left on my lease. They would have to re-list it one month anyway since I was moving. It ended up that they dropped the fees and then made it seem like they were the sweetest things ever for doing that for me when the fees were ridiculous anyway and non-refundable even if someone was interested in the house.
I moved out with 6 weeks time left on my lease and still paid for electric/water/rent for that time period and then I drove by the house three days into the new month (which was in the middle of the week) and saw that people had already moved in. I would be willing to bet the new occupants moved there the weekend prior and the leasing company made money off both us and the new occupants. People suck!
I'm on both sides of this as a (soon to be ex-) landlord. Check the lease - subletting may not be permitted by the landlord (I never allow it) and if you do without permission you're still fully responsible for the payments and all terms of the lease including any damages that the other people do. It's too risky - I would never do it.
Negotiation is your only choice. Either with the house seller and/or the landlord. Maybe both. I'm sure you can work something out.
I know people who simply moved out, returned keys, forfeited their security deposit and that's it. Depending on the amount you still owe there is not much a landlord may be willing to do. Spending thousands on a lawyer to get a court judgement against you doesn't always worth it. Most people don't say this because they don't want to encourage "irresponsible" behavior. If you ask me, nothing irresponsible here. Don't need the place no more, ain't gonna pay for it. As simple as that.
No need to spend thousands to get a judgement. Most landlords will just sue in small claims. You'll then be stuck for the court costs and the money owed on the broken lease.
Besides all of the legal issues mentioned, it is simply not the right thing to do.
I'm betting davison would have made different comments if s/he was on the flip side of the lease
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