Breaking the lease? Experience (job transfers, job, rental, cheaper)

[Hannah7]

Have you ever had to break a lease for any reason?

Imagine situation where you move from your state to another, get job and apartment there. You sign a lease for a year. Then you quit the job or get fired, maybe after a month or two. Now you need to move again. What are you going to do?

Anyone had experience? Did you have to keep paying until the end of the contract or were you able to find somebody to take over your lease easily?

[Rabrrita]

Each state has their own Landlord Tenant laws. Without knowing what state your in, no specifics can be offered. Here are some generals.

1. A lease is a legally binding contract that you entered into. As such it is enforcebale under the terms of your state law in court.

2. You owe the amount specificed it the lease each month to the landlord regardless if your living there or not. Many states place a duty on the landlord to mitigate their damages which means they must take steps to rerent the place. Once rerented, your liability ends.

3. Some states give tenants the right to sublease, others makes it a mutual requirement, some states leave it up to the landlord.

4. You will always be responsible for rent during the law/lease notice period and for any damages.

5. Some states offer the option of a early termination payment clause where you pay a set amount and the lease ends regardles if rerented or it stays empty.

6. You do not want to just walk away as a landlord can place a negative comment about you with the various tenant screening services that will make it hard to rent a place. A landlord can also sue you in court and if sucessful can obtain ajudgement that is now public records and will really make it hard to rent as well as impact your credit and employment opportunities.

You may want to go over to CD's Real Estate forum and read the Renting sub-forum. There you will read all sorts of post about the right and wrong way to go about a lease early termination. You can always ask the moderators to move this to the Renting forum.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by Hannah7

Have you ever had to break a lease for any reason?

It happens to people every day for a 1000 legitimate reasons.
There is a LOT of case and statute law on HOW it should be handled.

The common theme of successful handling is COMMUNICATION.
Most small LL's are reasonable and WILL work out a fair arrangement.
The bigger prop mgmt companies are where the problems lie.

What are you going to do?

You live your life. The lease is not an indenture.
You manage your responsibility and move on.

Did you have to keep paying until the end of the contract...

Almost no one will ever have to pay for more than one extra month; most less.

Be very leery of those flat rate "lease termination" deals.
These are the people left to pay two or even more months for an empty.

Focus on the time for a good CLEANING so that once you have packed and moved your
stuff out of the unit you can then return the unit to the LL ready for the next person to move in...
an so there is no drama about getting your security deposit refunded promptly.

or were you able to find somebody to take over your lease easily?

Few landlords will want this. They will have their own methods and standards and for another
1000 reasons really need to deal with all applicants in the same legal fair manner.

So... read your lease to see what commitments you have made.
Then talk to the landlord about your situation.
Devise a plan -together- to manage the turnover.

[escapefromdixie]

It really depends on the lease. Many leases have a early termination penalty that is sometimes equal to two month's rent. Others, you have to pay the lease until it ends. And finally if you received any concessions from your landlord when moving in, (i.e., free month of rent, discount on rent) you may have to pay those back if you break your lease. Read your lease and be open with your landlord. Most landlords are willing to work with you if you are up front and honest with them.

DON'T just walk away because that will follow you the next time you want to rent an apartment. Many applications ask for your last address and will check with your previous landlord to make sure you left free and clear. Other places have rental criteria that disqualify potential tenants who have unpaid leases.

[MJ7]

Yeah, depends on state. It happens all the time, which is why there are laws. In the state I reside it is 2 months rent and they keep the security deposit. It's not really that bad.

The only thing I could think of that is worse is if you have to sign a 1 year contract over and over again. I would never rent a place that was this way. The best contracts are 3, 6, or 9 months long, just in case you feel like you might not be there for a long time. Usually once it gets past that marker the landlord will just move you to month to month and you'll have to give a 60 day notice before you leave. Usually, not always, private renters are more lenient. If you pay on time and can hold a regular conversation with the landlord they will help you in the time of need.

[veuvegirl]

Rad your lease, it should all be in there. We had to a couple of times, followed the terms of the lease, by paying the rent up or finding someone to take over the lease.

[clickdale1]

My company kept flying me to Vegas for work. And then my wife got laid off, so we just up and moved to Vegas. We signed a 1 year lease. To make a long story short, my wife wasn't happy at her new job and her old job in CA offered her her job back with a higher income.

I ended up paying like 5 months of rent, which is what we had remaining on the lease. The apartment complex told me that as soon as the apartment was rented out, they would refund me the difference. The apartment was rented 2 to 3 weeks later. Unfortunately, the apartment complex made me fight for every penny they owned me. They made excuse after excuse, and slowly repaid me a portion of what they owed. In all, I probably only got about 3 months of rent back. I was pissed. Actually, I should jump onto Yelp and report this complex.

I've had horrible experiences renting. I'm so grateful to be a home owner!

[MrRational]

The apartment complex told me that as soon as the apartment was rented out,
they would refund me the difference.

Tenant's obligation is limited to paying rent UNTIL the LL has another source for that money.
If YOU volunteer to be that source... they'll have no motivation to find another (tenant).

iow... don't volunteer or allow yourself to be coerced into paying rent any sooner
or more frequently or in a greater amount than if you were still living there.

[Mr_Geek]

I've broken 2 leases over job transfers. Both times my lease stipulated a flat fee and I paid it and that was that. I am a bit of a gypsy so I make sure any lease I sign has a decent lease break clause other than I'll pay until contract ends or until they rent it.

[John13]

I'm never had a problem with renting and have been doing so for 40 years. Frankly especially at my age I don't want a house.

I saw what happened to my parents house and how much it depreciated. It was a shock for me to find that out how much when my mother died in FL in 2009. They should have rented.

I'm moving soon and I was told at lease signing pretty much what I was told everywhere - break the lease you are responsible until they can get someone to rent your apartment.

I only broke a lease once, when my ex wife and I spilt up. I signed another lease and moved into a smaller and cheaper apartment and we were even. However I know that is not going to help you. Talk to your landlord. Chances are you are not going to be responsible for the balance. It probably would be better if you could get someone to rent where you are currently living.