Breaking Lease. Trying to re-rent. Landlord is dragging his feet. (apartment, rental)

[kungfoolery]

Pardon the lengthy post, but I'm rather stressed.

July 1st, we sent our landlord our 60 day written notice through Certified FedEx with a signed receipt. He calls us that he isn't aware of a 60 day notice in the lease. (Did he read his copy? Before he called?)

Come July 21st there still haven't been any For Rent signs up in the yard. So back on Wednesday the 10th, I posted on CL and a bunch of other places to get the process moving. I've received 30 calls and emails about the place, in which I forward to my landlord. Landlord says he can't get to showing until the 24th of July. From my perspective he's not mitigating the damages for both parties, and we could be turning away potential tenants. So I have my list of numbers I have to follow up with to make sure they are being scheduled and that my landlord is willing to show the place to them.

Talked to the landlord today to make sure he's getting calls and scheduling with the potential tenants. He has yet to do so but will be scheduling today or tomorrow. Fine. Then he asks how much I posted as the rent amount - $900, and he said he was asking for $1000. Which is $100 more than I pay currently. This is why I wanted more communication from him, and to not drag his ass on the carpet back on July 1st. All of this could've been more civil and cleared up in the first place. And now there are 30 people that will either find out the price was increased, either at the apartment or over the phone - possibly turning people away. Can he change the price just like that?

The lease contradicts itself. It states I must pay the 60 Days AND forfeit the security deposit. Which is fine. But it also states I must pay for the remaining terms of the lease - another 8 months. And that I'm responsible for re-renting. So which one is it?

Can the landlord increase the price for a new tenant? At what dollar amount is he pushing the boundaries? To me, there's no difference in $100 or $9000 - it's still an increase which doesn't help mitigate damages. And will limit people that would have a $900 maximum rent budget. So here we are, possibly wasting 21 days. And back to my responsibility to re-rent - in which he states he wants to show the place. I feel I could ignore it, and just show the place myself, but he won't give me the applications or potential copies of the lease in which I could give to tenants. He's making it rather frustrating for me. I'm making things rather simple/easy for his sake and helping us re-rent the place and it's like pulling teeth.

I was planning on letting him walk into a few loopholes like - taking tons of photos of everything, then driving back to the apartment on the 59th day to make sure he wasn't making any renovations or painting anything for the next tenant. As we were still occupying via rent. I've read some where that just how we would owe him the 60 days in rent (or entirety), he would owe us the difference in the rental price that he's asking for. So $100 over 8 months = $800. Not to mention he would be taking over the occupation of the space as soon as he begins any work or changes to the place.

I'm documenting everything to the second, all contacts, phone numbers, emails, etc. I'm hoping when we move out, he makes some silly change to an appliance or does something, like painting, in which the landlord would be taking control - which would break the lease. I think and hope.

I'm on the hook for $7200 for the remainder of the lease AND my security deposit on top - I'm fairly stressed as I'll have to arrange for movers, pay new security deposit, and have months of double rent.

I've offered to a buyout price to break the lease for an extra 1-2 months on top, and he wouldn't accept it. but say s "there will be no problem renting the place out. So then why won't he take my offer to break the lease?


I know I signed the 1 year lease, but life doesn't happen in 12 month increments. I offered a buyout which would cover him to mid December, but he wouldn't take it. And his communication has gone from 3-5 hour call backs to 48 hour response time, with more questions than answers. Trying to think positive, and hope someone rents it, but this may be the first time I call up a lawyer.

My questions: Can the landlord increase the price for a new tenant? What details should I keep track of the most? What can I do to help the process? Should I just not pay after the 60 days are up? How much can this affect my credit or renting future? Has anybody been through this before? Does anybody know of a good lawyer in Illinois?

Thanks for reading.

[reenzz]

You gave a 60 day notice of your intent to breach the lease. Under Illinois law, the landlord does not have to mitigate his damages until you actually do breach the lease by vacating the premises. The law also allows the landlord to raise the rent within market value.

[kungfoolery]

Our lease states we owe 60 days, forefeit our security deposit AND we're on the hook for the remainder of the lease.

It contradicts itself?

If he raised the rent - how does this help anything? At what dollar amount is it too much? Because he would've been at the $900 price with us for those 10 months. If he were to charge more, just as we are on the hook if he were to ask for a lower price in rent, does he owe us the difference that he would make?

"Under Illinois law, the landlord does not have to mitigate his damages until you actually do breach the lease by vacating the premises."

So he'll see how much he can get, and then lower his price again? What if he doesn't lower his price? Who's to stop someone from trying to charge $4million when our rent is $900? Seems like it should stop at $1 more.

This seems very low class, and trailer trash for him to take advantage of us.

[linicx]

The law is the law and he is using it. Whether or not he is low class is moot. He is your landlord and you will pay for the privilege of leaving early. If you were moving across the country, or you were having corrective surgery and recovery in rehab for 9 months, it might make a difference. It doesn't seem like it.

Buckle up. Have the apartment cleaned professionally and make needed repairs caused by your negligence. Make sure he sees it before he gets your keys. I would be good to have him sign off that he saw it and agreed no work needed to be done.

Give him the keys and a money order for the balance you owe. Leave and don't look back.

[Vasily]

I don't know of an apartment building in my area where you don't pay a premium to get out of a lease early. The reason is, the landlord then has the hassle and potential loss of profit due to prepping the apartment for the next tenant, the paperwork involved, and the amount of time the apartment is unrented. My complex has a Lease Contract Buy-out Agreement that specifies the terms for getting out of your lease early; the lease notes "You will still be liable for the entire Lease Contract term if you move out early". Which I take as meaning, they'll work the terms of a buy-out agreement with someone on a case-by-case basis. This is consistent with what your landlord is saying.

Could you fight it in small claims court? Sure. My guess is that you'd lose, and you have to consider which would be easiest and cheapest in the long run: doing what linicx suggests, hiring a lawyer to fight it in court, or representing yourself in court. If it were me, I'd take option 1 and take it as a learning experience.

[yousah]

You seem to be stuck in between two different situations. On one hand, it appears that your lease provides for early termination with specific conditions. On the other hand, you're talking about the landlord having to mitigate damages. He wouldn't have to do that if you 'paid' the appropriate penalties listed in your lease. So I agree with the confusion you are expressing.

It would seem to me that if you complied with the lease terms with respect to leaving early then there would be no need to mitigate damages.

I've seen this situation before with a friend, and his attorney had him qualify his own sub-tenant then provide the information to the landlord. If the sub-tenant was otherwise qualified then it could be argued that you've fulfilled you obligations under the lease. However, in that sort of situation you are liable for any rental losses and damages that may occur.

You might want to consult an attorney to see if the provisions in your lease have enough detail to protect you. Otherwise, there's plenty of case law that allows you to sub-lease your unit with very little involvement of the landlord.