If you lose your job, but you're in the middle of a lease... (apartment, tenant)
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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.
There's unemployment. some LL's will work with you. I would think they would want it occupied and getting "some" money as opposed to it being empty. BUT, I'm a softee and know hardships do fall on people.
There's unemployment. some LL's will work with you. I would think they would want it occupied and getting "some" money as opposed to it being empty. BUT, I'm a softee and know hardships do fall on people.
I know, but let's say your rent and other fixed costs exceed your monthly U/E benefits. I think you can only receive up to 50% of your last income and then there's even a cap on how much that is. Can you break your lease without any repercussions if you can't actually survive on UI?
I know, but let's say your rent and other fixed costs exceed your monthly U/E benefits. I think you can only receive up to 50% of your last income and then there's even a cap on how much that is. Can you break your lease without any repercussions if you can't actually survive on UI?
I don't think there is any kind of get out of jail free card tied to unemployment. That's not to say you can't have an understanding and nice LL who would let you out of a lease with no repercussions.
I don't think there is any kind of get out of jail free card tied to unemployment. That's not to say you can't have an understanding and nice LL who would let you out of a lease with no repercussions.
I understand that there may be no protection for you, but what could they do when you don't have enough income? Could they sue you for basically getting laid off due to no fault of your own? Sounds like a pretty warped system to me.
I know, but let's say your rent and other fixed costs exceed your monthly U/E benefits. I think you can only receive up to 50% of your last income and then there's even a cap on how much that is. Can you break your lease without any repercussions if you can't actually survive on UI?
Nope. You took responsibility for the lease when signing. It's not the landlord's fault when someone loses their job, and just because you can't pay now doesn't mean their bills are forgiven. Pay, or move.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcb1025
I understand that there may be no protection for you, but what could they do when you don't have enough income? Could they sue you for basically getting laid off due to no fault of your own? Sounds like a pretty warped system to me.
It's pretty warped if you think they should bear the financial hardship when it's yours, not theirs.
I understand that there may be no protection for you, but what could they do when you don't have enough income? Could they sue you for basically getting laid off due to no fault of your own? Sounds like a pretty warped system to me.
I'm not sure they would sue you as you can't get blood from a stone. But to think that this should have no impact on your credit seems "a bit warped".
When you signed the lease it did not have a clause that said you agree to pay xx amount unless you get laid off and can't afford it. You took the risk by signing the lease. Just like if you bought a car and can't afford the payments. Or bought a house and can't afford the payments. Or put money on your credit card and can't make the payments.
A lot depends on if you're renting from some large corporatation-type apartment that has unbreakable rules or from an individual landlord with a house. The corporate-type might be more difficult to deal with while the individual landlord could be easier. However, nothing is written in stone.
In my case, I did have a tenant years ago who ran into a similar situation. They were good tenants who caused me no problems and paid their rent on time.
In their case, they were into a portion of a 1-year lease when the husband was laid off. They could no longer afford the rent and they asked to be released from their lease.
Since they were honest with me, came to me with the situation and didn't let things go bad before using the job loss as an excuse, I let them out of their lease without penalty.
I wasn't about to cut the payment in half and let them stay. First becasue it's not what they wanted and second because I had my obligations to meet. As any property owner I wasn't in the business of charity. However, I was willing to do what I could, even though it meant that I missed a month or two of rent while I searched for another tenant.
So, will another landlord do the same thing? I don't know. All I know is that I was willing to let these folks out of their lease on a SFH because they had always been good tenants, were honest with me and didn't try to make excuses after they missed the rent.
BTW, I also gave them good a good referral on their next place and did not ding their credit. To ding their credit would have been like kicking them when they were down and I didn't feel like doing it.
Nope. You took responsibility for the lease when signing. It's not the landlord's fault when someone loses their job, and just because you can't pay now doesn't mean their bills are forgiven. Pay, or move.
It's pretty warped if you think they should bear the financial hardship when it's yours, not theirs.
Due to your defensive tone, I take it you may be a landlord or property manager. If that's the case, I think your biased view on this subject may have led you to misunderstand what I'm asking. I'm not saying that I should be entitled to live on the premises without paying. I'm more concerned about the liability aspect. You better believe that if I lose my job, I'm going home to live with my parents until I can get another job. There's just no way that I'm going to attempt to make it on my own without an income.
If you are a good tenant, and you tell me you got laid off, and can't afford the rent, I'm happy to to try and work something out with you. In this case there's 2 options, a payment plan based on what you can afford, or you move to a cheaper place. If you are a bad tenant, I probably want you out anyway, and that will be the option.
If you DON'T tell me you got laid off, and just start missing payments, you've just blown your chance to work with me, and I will file eviction and sue for back amounts ASAP, even though I'm not likely to see anything.
The last thing I want is someone in the house that can't pay. I'd rather have it empty, so I can try and get it rented again.
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