Left Lease Early - Loss of job (Los Angeles: for sale, 2015)

[GRW15]

Los Angeles Area:

Early 2015, I lost my job and immediately notified the management company of the condo I leased that I would stay in the property as long as I could, but if I could not find a job I would have to leave the lease early and move to another state.
I left the lease at the end of June, with 10 months remaining on the lease. The management company sent me a statement, outlining the status of my security deposit, how it has been applied, and that my balance owed is around $15K.
The very next day I found the property listed "for sale" on Zillow; there was an open house the following weekend, and now the status is showing as having a "pending offer".
Can someone advise me on what a possible outcome might be? Am I liable for just the lost rent up until the closing of the sale?

Thank You!
Gerry

[jtamay3]

Originally Posted by GRW15

Los Angeles Area:

Early 2015, I lost my job and immediately notified the management company of the condo I leased that I would stay in the property as long as I could, but if I could not find a job I would have to leave the lease early and move to another state.
I left the lease at the end of June, with 10 months remaining on the lease. The management company sent me a statement, outlining the status of my security deposit, how it has been applied, and that my balance owed is around $15K.
The very next day I found the property listed "for sale" on Zillow; there was an open house the following weekend, and now the status is showing as having a "pending offer".
Can someone advise me on what a possible outcome might be? Am I liable for just the lost rent up until the closing of the sale?

Thank You!
Gerry

That's going to be tough. It's dependent on what your lease says unless you worked out another agreement with the lease management company in writing, which would specifically void whatever is in the lease. Perhaps you can reach some type of settlement if they're in the right.

Most property management companies have a set amount of what it costs to get out of the lease. Some of them have 2 months rent, some have 2 months rent + Security Deposit, some will just keep your security deposit and some will try to charge you the rest of the lease, regardless if you stay there or not.

[brrabbit]

Originally Posted by GRW15

Los Angeles Area:

Early 2015, I lost my job and immediately notified the management company of the condo I leased that I would stay in the property as long as I could, but if I could not find a job I would have to leave the lease early and move to another state.
I left the lease at the end of June, with 10 months remaining on the lease. The management company sent me a statement, outlining the status of my security deposit, how it has been applied, and that my balance owed is around $15K.
The very next day I found the property listed "for sale" on Zillow; there was an open house the following weekend, and now the status is showing as having a "pending offer".
Can someone advise me on what a possible outcome might be? Am I liable for just the lost rent up until the closing of the sale?

Thank You!
Gerry

They cannot demand more than "lost rent" up to the closing date, not past that. They won't return you security deposit either (unless they're really nice people). If the sale goes fast, it's unlikely they would want to collect the lost rent from you at all (although they might), especially if you don't advertise that you have a good new job and have plenty of money.

Good luck with your job search

[CALGUY]

Legally you are responsible for the balance of the lease.
When a new owner purchases a building with tenants, he also buys any existing rental, or lease agreements still in effect.
You left with ten months due on the lease, and that is the amount the new owner is legally able to collect.
Regardless of the fact the unit gets re-rented, you still are responsible for the balance of your lease.

Bob.

[brrabbit]

One is not allowed to rent the same unit twice, so as soon as the unit is inhabited by either a new tenant, or the owner, the guy is off the hook for sure.

[jw2]

Originally Posted by CALGUY

Legally you are responsible for the balance of the lease.
When a new owner purchases a building with tenants, he also buys any existing rental, or lease agreements still in effect.
You left with ten months due on the lease, and that is the amount the new owner is legally able to collect.
Regardless of the fact the unit gets re-rented, you still are responsible for the balance of your lease.

Bob.

Bolded item is wrong.

[TurcoLoco]

To my best knowledge, you are responsible only for the portion up until that start of a new lease/payment from the new party.

So, let's say the new owner/renter starts making payment as of 9/15/2015. You should only have to pay for the time from the last month you paid for up until September 14th 2015.