Quote:
Originally Posted by Kim in FL
If you leave before your lease is up, it's considered breaking the lease. If you want to do the right thing, read your lease, talk to your landlord and pay whatever penalty is required.
|
Except in this case it is much cheaper for her NOT to break the lease and instead to keep paying rent, and I don't see any way that this is unethical. She's "doing the right thing" by paying rent every month 'til her lease ends.
Quote:
Originally Posted by makkie
The "offending" section reads as follows:
Tenant may end this lease and move out of the Property before the End Date of the Lease or any Renewal Term only with written permission of Landlord, and only if:
(A) Tenant gives Landlord at least 90 days written notice, AND
(B) Tenant pays Landlord a Termination fee of 4 months, AND
(C) Tenant continues to pay all rent until the End Date of the Lease, or any Renewal Term, or until a new tenant is approved by Landlord and a new lease takes effect, whichever happens first.
I'll do my best to land a job with a start date that allows me to stay through the end of the lease. But if I find something sooner, then I'll just have to take my lumps. I'll get in touch with my landlord as soon as I know more about when I'll need to leave.
|
As 'most everyone else has said, those are really steep penalties. The only situation in which it seems like it would be advantageous for a tenant to give 90 days' notice and pay a 4-month penalty would be if it were REALLY early in, say, a 1-year lease, and they expect that the LL will be able to get another tenant in soon after they move out (I assume the LL would have to make a "good faith effort" however that is defined by state law). In that case at least the previous tenant would be off the hook for the 4-months' penalty but not for rent after the new tenant moves in. (Note, I'm not saying it now sounds fair to me, but SOME tenants might end up "only" paying the 4-month fee.)
OP, do you have a friend who lives nearby and could stop by every few days to check on things and adjust heat/cool settings if needed?