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Hey, I've noticed a few questions like this on here, but none quite like mine.
I signed up for what I, and everybody else, thought was a 12 month lease. For example, the lease actually read something like this:
Start Date: 1 March 2011
End Date: 30 March 2012
Nearing the end of my lease, I attempted to give sufficient notice that I would be leaving at the end of the lease. First, I looked at the End Date on the lease for verification of the last day. Whoops! That's 13 months! I immediately brought this to the attention of my landlord who through a number of text messages and phone calls basically assured me nothing was wrong with the lease. At no time did he even admit that I was going to end up having to pay an additional month because of his error. He did, however, tell me to send him a letter with the date I was leaving on it. Like a fool, I sent him a letter saying that I would leave "at the end of the lease's term, 30 March 2012."
Thought everything was somehow going to pan out. The landlord asked if I could leave a week or so early so he could paint, I agreed because he said he'd give me money back if he got a new tenant within that last month. I left 1 month ahead of time. I had nothing in the apartment and had given back the keys.
Now, of course, I find out that he was unable to find a new tenant and that I will not be getting back my security deposit. He finally admitted to me that he had the date wrong, but said that it doesn't change anything I still need to pay for the "extra" (is it "extra"?) month. That same month that I A) wasn't supposed to be there and B) literally wasn't there because I had already given him the keys.
On the lease it also states that "the total amount due for the term is: $6,300" which is the rent ($525) x 12 months. He did the math as if it was a lease for 12 months as it was supposed to be. I don't see how he can have it both ways and say "Look, you signed the lease that said 13 months." and "Hey, I really meant for the total amount due to read $6,825." Either it should really be 12 months and I want my security deposit back OR it says 13 months on the lease and the total still equals $6,300, in which case I want my security deposit back. Unless, of course, all of these errors can be wiped away by saying "It says 13 months, and that's final, but obviously there was a calculation error on the total" and he gets off scot-free.
I do not believe this to be a simple "clerical error" because I pointed the mistake out to him much earlier and he did nothing about it. He didn't so much as confirm to me that, yes, the lease End Date is an error on my part and it mistakenly reads 13 months. If he had done this I could have easily left on time AS I INTENDED TO DO. Instead, he basically assured me everything was as agreed...I really can't remember how he said it, but I wish I did because it must have been pretty good! Furthermore, as I said before, I wasn't even in possession of the apartment for this "extra" month. I had already given the apartment back to him.
How is this going to play out if I take it to court? Thanks in advance!
I don't think the lease term even matters. Most leases revert to month to month when they expire. And you told him you would be out March 30th. Even if the lease should have expired a month earlier you still told him in writing you were staying until March 30th. Seems like that is when you are obligated to pay through.
I would read it differently. If the lease specifically says that the rent for the lease period is $6,300, and the OP paid $6,300, then how can he/she be required to pay more for the period as specified in the lease -- which ended 3/30?
Sounds like lots of silly mistakes, but if the OP paid the amount specified in the lease for the period specified in the lease, then how can the LL (who made the silly mistakes) keep his/her security deposit?
I have no idea which way a judge would come down on that one.
On the one side, a lease doesn't have to be for 12 months. We regularly sign leases that are for odd periods of time, such as 7 months, or 14 months, or 17 1/2 months. Very rarely are our leases for exactly 12 months, as they don't usually start on the 1st of the month, but we always end them at the end of the month So the end date on the lease is more important than whether it was for 12 months or 13.
On the other hand, the lease specified exactly what the total amount due is (this is odd to me, as I've never seen a lease that said that, but from what I've seen on these forums, it isn't an unusual clause), and you fulfilled that obligation.
On the other other hand, you told the LL you wouldn't be out until March 30th. If you had told them you would be out before March 1st instead, then you could have some (probably excellent) grounds. But by giving notice through March 30th, you obligated yourself to one more month, presumably at the same rate, whether that extra month was in the original lease or not.
On the other other other hand, you turned your keys in at the end of your 12 months.
So given all that, my non-legal opinion is that you owe rent for that extra month, whether you lived there or not, because you told the landlord, in writing, that your move out date would be March 30th.
lets go back a bit, as Lacerta raised a good point.
OP,
Does the lease specify the exact number of months or is it only a start and end date? (a lease of X months, or a lease starting Y date and ending Z date)
Does the lease specify a monthly rental amount with no total ($XXX.XX per month) or does it specify a total for the entire term of the lease ($X,XXX.XX for the term of the lease)?
But why would the OP owe more if he/she paid the amount specified in the lease for the period specified in the lease (even if they were both wrong)? The OP told the LL that he/she would be out on 3/30 -- which was (mistakenly) the end of the lease -- so why would that change anything?
I'm a LL but I would probably chalk this one up to my making stupid mistakes in the lease that gave the tenant a free month.
lets go back a bit, as Lacerta raised a good point.
OP,
Does the lease specify the exact number of months or is it only a start and end date? (a lease of X months, or a lease starting Y date and ending Z date)
Does the lease specify a monthly rental amount with no total ($XXX.XX per month) or does it specify a total for the entire term of the lease ($X,XXX.XX for the term of the lease)?
I see where you are going with that, and I had that thought too. If the lease just says a start and end date, and only has the total amount, and does not make reference anywhere in it to "12 months" or "$525/month", then a possible argument could be made in court that you technically fulfilled the terms, even though the original intent by both parties was different. But the courts sometimes do take intent into account, if both parties agree what the intent was. So the OP would have to lie under oath and play the "how was I supposed to know.. I just did what the lease said" card, even though they have already stated to the landlord that they did, in fact, know.
But the OP returned the keys to the LL following his request, so he didn't have possession of the unit. How is he responsible for rent for a place he didn't have access to?
OP, do you have a written receipt for the keys? or a written statement from the LL when he requested you to leave early?
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