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I recently signed a lease with a new landlord. I didn't notice this at the time, but it says on here for term; June 1st, 2014 to May 15th, 2015... I was told it was a 12 month lease, and I'm paying 740 a month, and it calculates the total contract is not less than $8880 which is 740 a month for 12 months.
I paid the full first and last months rent upfront, but is this legal? For this term the last month should be half the cost since is not a full 12 month lease, its an 11.5 month lease. The month before the last month would it be legal for me to pay half a months since it looks like I'm going to get scammed out of paying a full months rent for half a months living.
Me and my wife are also in the armed forces, if this would better our situation... Also a side questions, if we were to get some orders mid lease that we were being relocated would we be refunded our security deposit and last months rent?
Why don't you ask the landlord? Start with the assumption that it was a mistake and that you need an addendum to correct it. If that turns out to be wrong, ask why the last month was a full month's pay. If the answer sounds like BS, contact your local bar association and see if someone will give you advice for free.
As stated, you need to ask your landlord the specifics. It could be an error, it could be the monthy rents is based on the total rent due for the total number of days of the lease term averaged out on a per month basis, it could be your last month will be prorated and extra monies paid refunded as required under your state law, etc, etc. Speak with the landlord.
Being in the militray will have no bearing on the rental terms and conditions that you agreed on. There is no "I'm in the militray" special exemptions to signing a legally binding contract.
If you receive order for a permenant change of duty stations, you will be protected by a federal law called the Servicemember's Civil Relief Act that limits your financial responsibility to a landlord. Your financial liability will be limited to at most 2 months depending on when you give notice. You may have additional protections in your state's Landlord Tenant laws.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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You signed it so it can be enforced. If it was an honest mistake, the landlord should be happy to sign an amendment, but if not, you will have to pay the full last month rent despite the short term because you agreed to it.
I've heard of landlords doing this. The early termination is so that they have time to prep the unit for the next tenant. Usually, it is 3 or 4 days though, not 15 days. I'm not a supporter of this practice. In my opinion, downtime is a cost of doing business for a landlord, and not the tenant's problem. However, my not supporting it doesn't mean it isn't legal or isn't legally enforceable. It probably is, since you agreed to it.
So in short, probably legal despite being a shady practice.
To your other question, yes, if you were deployed or transferred long term (more than 90 days) to another base, I believe you have to provide written proof of that to your landlord, and they have to let you out of the lease. You still have to do the 30 day notice thing. If you are in a lease, it is through the end of the month following the notice (ie notice on June 15th is through July 31st). You would either apply your final month to your last month (since you still have to give notice, you would still have a final month), or get a refund of it, and your deposit should be handled as if you didn't break the lease (ie you'll still be charged for cleaning & damages, but no penalties). That is federal law (Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, I believe).
Why don't you ask the landlord? Start with the assumption that it was a mistake and that you need an addendum to correct it. If that turns out to be wrong, ask why the last month was a full month's pay. If the answer sounds like BS, contact your local bar association and see if someone will give you advice for free.
Instead of the local Bar Association I would suggest going by the Base Legal Office. The experience I had when in the USAF was they were not only there to assist you but they actually enjoyed it especially if it appeared the service member was getting screwed over. Often just a letter from the Legal office would be enough because no landlord wants to get put on the 'banned' list for the base.
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