Lease Overlap Question/Concern (apartment, leases, landlords)

[Kiara W]

Hi,


Apparently per documentation you're not supposed to maintain two leases in your name at the same time?


But this seems unavoidable for an overlap period if soon to be old landlord wont let you break the lease for a couple of months and you're given limited time to move to the new place...


It seems like this kind of thing happens fairly often from what I've been reading on this forum? The timing of getting out of the lease from one place to another doesn't always match exactly.


I just want to make sure I'm doing things correctly.


Thanks for your feedback!

[BritinNYC]

Good question - I can't imagine anyone actually causing trouble over this if it was very obviously done in good faith with intention of moving (rather than air bnb-ing the other apartment or something)? And I also suspect that might be one added reason they usually give 1-2 months free on a new lease, so as to avoid any official overlap - our lease didn't officially start until 2 months after we had moved in.

I am also curious to see what others' experiences have been with this one!

[WildAboutHarry]

Three are many posts about this matter. You can search the forum for threads or posts to review them.

If the overlap is short and will not exist anymore when the pre existing lease expires in a month or two then it does not seem to be much to worry about.

Your can break your lease. It is free country after all. However, what the consequences are to you if you break you lease is another matter.

Don’t assume just because it looks like you are getting a lottery unit that this will occur on May 1. That might happen or it could be later, even much latter if the unit is not ready for occupancy because the stove is on backorder or some such.

TIP: Today or tomorrow take action to obtain a copy of your lease to review. Do not assume for even a second that what some poster says about their own lease is exactly the same as you lease.

[Kiara W]

Thanks for the feedback.



I'm looking through my lease and don't see anything about breaking the lease. Not sure what else I should be looking for.


It does say I can sublet, though I really don't want to get into all that.

[linamonroll]

Originally Posted by Kiara W

Thanks for the feedback.

I'm looking through my lease and don't see anything about breaking the lease. Not sure what else I should be looking for.

It does say I can sublet, though I really don't want to get into all that.

Not all leases will have the early termination info, my former one didn't. Reach out directly to your landlord or management company and ask for their early termination policy in writing. NYC landlords are pretty used to these requests and usually will have a standardized policy. In my case, I was able to terminate my old lease with just 30 days notice and received my full deposit back when I won my current apartment. There was a 12 day overlap of my 2 leases as my new lease started mid-month and I had given the 30 days notice the beginning of that month to my old place, right after having signed the new lease. There was no issue at all except I was paying ~1/2 a month extra rent at my old place which should be planed for as there is very likely to be at least a little overlap. Most landlords will give be reasonable about this, particularly now as we head into summer when the housing market tends to be more active. Good luck!