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Hi there, I found a house on zillow in San Antonio, TX. The Realtor offering the property is also the tenant. Her lease is not up until October. She needed to leave the rental house and be released from her lease agreement because she has purchased a home. A verbal agreement was then made between she (the tenant/realtor) and the LL ,to allow her out of ease. The verbal agreement stated that in order for her to be released from the lease, she would need to find a tenant to replace her. We were that tenant. Our lease is to begin on the 1st of August and all required monies have been paid on our part. We received a call from the tenant/realtor informing us that she would be unable to move out by the first of August due to closing issues and was unable to even give an estimated day of departure. When we told her that she needed to vacate by the 1st, closing costs are not our responsibility and we are not willing to continue to stay in and pay for an extended stay hotel any longer, she hung up the phone. The land lord has spoken with her and says that she can't just kick her out. We need to know what our legal rights are and what the land lord's legal obligations are, in this situation since there are now 2 leases on this particular property. Who has the legal right to be in that property as of the first of August?
Delays occur all too frequently... the reality is the eviction process is often very slow.
My advice is to go back to whatever you have in writing from the owner and start from there... let the owner know how much each day of delay is costing you.
A lawyer may simply advise you have the option to cancel?
I offered to pick up the difference between the rent and the extended stay for the four days my new tenants were delayed and this was offset by the rent I continued to collect from the existing tenant.
Yes we have a pen and paper lease. The only verbal agreement made in this entire scenario, is the one that was made between the current tenant and the land lord, allowing her to get out of her lease early, on the grounds that she found a replacement tenant (us). Even though it is only a verbal contract, it can be legitimized by the fact that she was the realtor listed for the house on zillow, proving that she was fully aware and actually instrumental to re-rental of the property.
The issue is between you and the landlord. There is a legal agreement between you and the lanlord. Work with the landlord on a solution for the property not being ready for move in as agreed on the lease.
If you have a fully executed lease agreement signed by both parties with a move-in date of August 1st, any divergence of those terms is a lease breach, period. The LL in this case is responsible for any and all costs incurred by you for this breach lease, and likely also for additional damages. Consult an attorney.
Agree with STT, unless your lease has a clause that says the lease can be voided, if the unit is not available when it was supposed to be. My lease has such a clause.
By the way, I'm confused as to who your lease is with? Is it between you and the realtor/tenant? Or between you and the actual owner/landlord? Law is the same either way, but just to clarify who you would be dealing with and/or suing.
Our lease is with the land lord (or else it wouldn't be a binding contract if it was made with anyone else). It is illegal for LL to double contract a property (double dipping), clause or not. Also, the LL does not want to void our lease. She needs a tenant to replace her current tenant when she does leave before her lease is up.
@ STT, absolutely agreed. The lease breach begins tomorrow. We have contacted a lawyer.
Good. If you have a chance, report back as it's always interesting to know how these things work out. Good luck!
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