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Husband and I just bought a house. We had been renting and have 4 months left on the lease. Our rent is $1,650 and we paid a security deposit of $2,500 when we moved in. Spoke with LL today to let her know we would be breaking lease and the nice, older southern belle did a complete 180. She yelled and screamed at me that she would be taking me to court and suing me "for thousands AND attorney's fees AND she WILL win!"
When we first rented the home, she told us she was very interested in selling it. At the time, we were very interested in purchasing it but she wouldnt give us, even a ballpark figure, of what she would want for it. Fast forward 6 months and she wants about $75,000 more than what the other homes in the neighborhood are going for. She also wanted to sell "as is" with no option for repairs to be made. This home has strictly been a rental home and there is A LOT of damages to the home. Yes, we documented everything before we moved in. The damages are, for example, one of the porch lights doesn't work, someone punched a hole in the door and whoever fixed it did a very poor job, a tenant obviously had a cat at one point because all the seals on the doors have claw marks etc. We definitely were not interested then. We chose to rent for another year with the knowledge that she would be putting it up for rent when our lease was up.
The home that we bought basically fell into our lap. From offer to close was less than a month so we would haven't been able to give her 60 days notice. I chose to give her 30 days upon closing of the new home. Upon reviewing the contract, it doesn't look like we have any wiggle room. There's no early termination fee listed. Other than going to court and hoping the judge rules in our favor, what can we do? We've offered to have the home professionally cleaned so she can either 1) rent it again or 2) put it up for sale. She wasn't interested in anything but blood. We've offered to find renters for her. When we originally rented the home, no less than 20 people wanted to rent it. Rentals in our area go extremely fast and even she said she could get way more money than what we were paying for rent.
Thoughts or advice appreciated. Paying the last 4 months rent would be impossible because we just don't have that kind of money.
Spoke with LL today to let her know we would be breaking lease and the nice,
older southern belle did a complete 180. She yelled and screamed at me....
Give her a couple of days to calm down.
Meanwhile get educated on the "duty to mitigate" statute/case law there
and in particular what the Courts in YOUR area do in these matters. LINK
long story short... what she would have to do in four months anyway...
well, her to do list just got moved up some on the calendar.
The MOST she could get away with is to drag her feet and delay finding a replacement tenant.
Which means that you might have to pay the rent for each of the next four months remaining on the lease.
Strategically... well, that's a different discussion.
As to the damages deposit... DOCUMENT condition thoroughly.
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Make a nice lemon cake... go over on Tuesday... sit down over a cup of tea and talk it out.
She doesn't have to like it... but she still has to find a new tenant.
The sooner, the better... for everyone.
You have a contract (your lease) that obligates you to pay rent for 4 more months. The reasons you cannot do so are irrelevant. You've also elected to give her less than the 60 days notice required in your lease.
Sorry but you do not get to pick and choose which lease terms you will follow. If she's able to rent it, you will probably not have to pay all of those months. Until she does you owe the rent.
Florida law does not require a landlord to mitigate damages by finding a new tenant. The landlord can simply sit back and demand the rent from you each month until the lease expires.
So what happens if I vacate early and turn the electricity off? Can she take possession of the house and still demand rent? Should I even bother having it professionally deep cleaned?
So what happens if I vacate early and turn the electricity off?
Can she take possession of the house and still demand rent?
You need to read the links and find some of your own ...
regardless you'll probably want to consult with an attorney there
about HOW best to legally disentangle yourself and have her re-take possession.
Again.. the deposit is a separate question.
Don't mix them up
So what happens if I vacate early and turn the electricity off? Can she take possession of the house and still demand rent? Should I even bother having it professionally deep cleaned?
The landlord needs to *know* that you're turning off the electricity, as in legally notified in writing/receipt requested. If you don't clearly notify them of your intention to cut off the power, you may be opening up yourself to an *additional* damage claim, I.e. Funky fridge due to being turned off & left closed up, or even mold in the property due to being locked up with no power/ a/c .
As for cleaning, yes, you need to. You need to act in an above-board & professional manner to help limit your liability. That means communicating exactly when the property is vacant/available to re-rent & returning it in the best condition possible, making sure the landlord has the keys in their hands, etc.
You can't afford not to hire a lawyer here for advice on strategy & possibly help in negotiating a fair settlement. The law in your state is clearly in favor of the landlord, and all you can do is mitigate the damage & act as reasonable & defensible as possible, and hope for leniency from a judge. You also need to notify the landlord of your new address - trying to skip out means you won't be able to defend yourself when you do get sued.
Paying the last 4 months rent would be impossible because we just don't have that kind of money.
I don't understand why you didn't consider this cost when doing your cost analysis before purchasing your home? What did you expect your LL to say? What were you expecting to pay to break the lease? Nothing.
Husband and I just bought a house. We had been renting and have 4 months left on the lease. Our rent is $1,650 and we paid a security deposit of $2,500 when we moved in. Spoke with LL today to let her know we would be breaking lease and the nice, older southern belle did a complete 180. She yelled and screamed at me that she would be taking me to court and suing me "for thousands AND attorney's fees AND she WILL win!"
Thoughts or advice appreciated. Paying the last 4 months rent would be impossible because we just don't have that kind of money.
What would you expect her to say when you are trying to skip out on the last 4 months of rent?
You can't break a lease just because you feel like it. You should have waited to buy the home or pay for 4 months rent that remain.
I like how you think you are not doing anything wrong and you are the victim.
Paying the last 4 months will not be impossible because you owe the money.
Pay your rent each month on the normal due date until the lease has ended or until the landlord finds another tenant.
Turn off the utilities and turn over the key to the landlord. At that point the landlord has possession but you still owe rent on the due date until another tenant is found.
Landlord owes you return of security deposit per state rules. As long as you are paying rent on time each month, landlord cannot take out future rent from the security deposit.
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