Termination of lease shortly after moving in (apartment complex, renter)

[nickj88]

Hello,
I have a question regarding the legality of an apartment complex terminating a lease 1 week after moving in. My in-laws recently moved into an apartment complex, and the background check was run after the lease signing. Apparently some unfavorable items appeared on the background check. They then delivered a notice to terminate the lease.

Can they do this? shouldn't the background check be run prior to offering the lease?
I am trying to figure out if the in-laws have any recourse to the complex attempting to terminate the lease.

They stated the tenants are breaking the "crime free" addendum on the lease, but when I read it, it implied the tenants would have to commit a crime while living in the apartment not prior.
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[esiebert7625]

I'm not a lawyer, I am both a renter and landlord though, it sounds to me like the landlord is at fault for not doing his due diligence before entering into a legally binding document and his escape clause is questionable and weak at best. They could probably beat it and stay until the lease is up but it might cost them if they get taken to court. They also now have a bad relationship with their landlord so I'm not sure I'd want to stay and if they do end up beating it the landlord will keep looking for ways to get rid of them.

[Bummer]

Sounds like there may have been some type of misrepresentation by you in-laws, NickJ.

Why else would the landlord want to evict a quality "rent paying" tenant?

[esiebert7625]

After 1 week they don't know if they are a quality rent paying tenant yet beyond what they paid up front. I presume the landlord would have checked into rental history as well to find out. If they had good history with no issues in the past there would probably be less concern. Sounds more like the landlord dropped the ball but who knows without all the facts. Personally it's just an apt, and it may even be a crappy one, I'd be a lot more concerned if they were renting a house. I had one potential tenant mention there was something on there background check while looking at my house and right there I was done with them. They didn't seem like the people I'd want to rent to anyway before they said that. Had another that looked like the ideal tenants, had they mentioned it I would have probably overlooked it.

[john3232]

Originally Posted by nickj88

Hello,
I have a question regarding the legality of an apartment complex terminating a lease 1 week after moving in. My in-laws recently moved into an apartment complex, and the background check was run after the lease signing. Apparently some unfavorable items appeared on the background check. They then delivered a notice to terminate the lease.

Can they do this? shouldn't the background check be run prior to offering the lease?
I am trying to figure out if the in-laws have any recourse to the complex attempting to terminate the lease.

They stated the tenants are breaking the "crime free" addendum on the lease, but when I read it, it implied the tenants would have to commit a crime while living in the apartment not prior.
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Humm... if they deliberately falsified their application in hopes the owner/PM wouldn't run a background check this might spell trouble for the in-laws.

As mentioned before they'll need to speak with an RE attorney.

[nickj88]

It appears there are no evictions on any of their background checks. There is a misdemeanor offense from 95 on the FIL background check. They stated that breached the "crime Free" addendum to the lease. I asked that they gather all documents they signed and let me take a look. If there was omission of information on the in-laws side, then in my opinion they should bite the bullet and get out of there ASAP. I also think if the complex did not ask these specifics, and only found them due to a background check, then they did not do there due diligence in applicant screening.

I am mainly just trying to help them buy time, the complex gave the a notice on friday and said they need to be out by monday. If they were able to do this, they probably could prevent eviction proceedings.

[pgc323]

The lease agreement I use for my tenants was drafted by the Arizona Association of Realtors, and has a clause that includes the following:

"Tenant’s material falsification of any information provided to landlord shall entitle landlord to terminate this agreement and pursue all applicable remedies, damages, court costs and attorney’s fees."


Read the lease, and it may be a slam dunk for the landlord.

[HX_Guy]

Originally Posted by pgc323

The lease agreement I use for my tenants was drafted by the Arizona Association of Realtors, and has a clause that includes the following:

"Tenant’s material falsification of any information provided to landlord shall entitle landlord to terminate this agreement and pursue all applicable remedies, damages, court costs and attorney’s fees."


Read the lease, and it may be a slam dunk for the landlord.

The question is, were they ever asked about it on the application? Or sometimes an application will say "Were you ever convicted of a crime in the past 7 years". It all depends on the exact application I would say.

[pgc323]

^ Yes, most certainly. Point being, the tenants may not need an attorney to sort this out.

[Bummer]

Originally Posted by nickj88

It appears there are no evictions on any of their background checks. There is a misdemeanor offense from 95 on the FIL background check. They stated that breached the "crime Free" addendum to the lease. I asked that they gather all documents they signed and let me take a look. If there was omission of information on the in-laws side, then in my opinion they should bite the bullet and get out of there ASAP. I also think if the complex did not ask these specifics, and only found them due to a background check, then they did not do there due diligence in applicant screening.

I am mainly just trying to help them buy time, the complex gave the a notice on friday and said they need to be out by monday. If they were able to do this, they probably could prevent eviction proceedings.

Exactly what I was referring to, NickJ.

Most "legal documents" have some type of "By signing this you are certifying . . . and agreeing to . . . " type of blanket statement, usually at the end but not always.

Once again, Good Luck.