Question on leaving my apartment.? Lease ends April 1

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by Ernie.e

Hi everyone I'm glad this is an opportunity for me to ask an important question(s) and hopefully get good honest responses back.

I have been living in my 1 bedroom apartment for 1 year and 11 months pretty much almost 2 years and recently I have NOT been happy with the new administration..
I'm won't name any apartments since it's not my style to speak publicly bad about any residential community or apartment complex, but this place where I am at, well things are not functioning properly such as Refrigerator not cooling at all, had sent several requests already to come fix it, they do, then it breaks down again and to pay for a new one it is a lot of money.
So as just one example of the other problems going on inside the apartment which list goes on, such as nails sticking out from carpet, etc.. weak walls... etc.
I have been researching around today to move anyway since my lease ends April 1. I am very honestly to god desperate of moving out ASAP like this weekend or next week to a very nice apartment complex that is much closer to where I am currently working. It's a 99$ move in special and I really want to take advantage of that and live in the reasonably affordable nice apartment that I saw today, the lady inside very nice she handed me the Application to fill out, I haven't discussed the situation at my apartment to the new potential residence yet however I will pay off also a late fee that I owe for this month but as of April 1 my lease ends and I am not planning on staying here at all.. I haven't had the chance to give out a 60 day notice since I was intending to stay but as of December of 2013 the administration changed and unfortunately for a not so good change. The new administration besides not taking care of problems, they have also been rude on customer service not just to me, but to others as well.
My concern is by my lease which started April 1, 2012 renewed on April 1, 2013 and ending til April 1,2014 have any effect on getting a new apartment before April 1? I haven't told the new apartments where I am living at yet because recently I have been staying a lot and practically living with my mom who has had health issues for the past six months so I've even have had an address change to some of my bills since I am at my mother's house most of the time.
I really want to get out of my apartment seriously and it makes me so anxious to find out that my lease is up on April 1, 2014
Can someone please help me out with answers? thank you so much for taking the time to read.
I am in Texas and in my mid 20s, on April of 2012 was when I first leased ever.

Normally in Texas you only have to give a 30 day notice to end a month to month rental, however, if your lease says 60 days as you wrote above , you are probably bound to that. Go talk to the property manager and give them written notice immediately that you intend to move out before April 1, 2014. You might get lucky and they will let you off the hook on that 60 day notice, but if not you may still owe them for an additional months rent.

Are you sure the lease requires a 60 day notice, that is relatively uncommon in Texas in my experience.

There is nothing to prevent you from renting another apartment earlier then April 1, but you may end up paying rent at both places during the overlap.

Read the information here on giving notice Austin Tenants’ Council/Tips for Renters

and here on Security Deposits Austin Tenants’ Council/Tenant-Landlord Fact Sheets

There is a deadline the landlord must comply with in order to keep any of your security deposit, if they fail to meet the requirements stipulated then they loose any rights to keep any of the deposit.

[Genghis]

This is pretty common. If you have to give a 30 day notice you'll have to pay an extra month, if it's a 60 day notice you'll have to pay 2 months, unless the landlord is able to rent out your unit before the 30 or 60 days is up, in which case you'll only have to pay until the new people move in.

People move unexpectedly enough that the landlord won't be that surprised, and it won't be held against you. This is pretty tame.