Breaking Lease.....what happens? (apartment, tenant, eviction, renter)

[Dale Cooper]

Having been a home owner nearly all my adult life, something I've been curious about. What happens when someone breaks a rent lease?

I've seen a lot of bloviating and faux threats made by rental managers/owners/whatever they're called, but what's the actual recourse?

I've lived in an apartment for 2 years now, and a handful of times, I've seen people move out in the dark of night, so to speak. I didn't personally know them so don't know the story, but it was obvious they were 'breaking their lease'.

I realize if asked, a landlord can tell the next prospective landlord that the renter broke the lease, but what else? It seems like a lot of pontificating to me.

Just satisfy my curiosity, if you would, please.

[STT Resident]

Many landlords will take a defaulting tenant to court even if they know that their likelihood of getting back any unpaid rent and reimbursement for damages is slim to none at least immediately. Once a judgement is rendered against a defendant it becomes part of the court record for all to see, becomes part of their credit record and fouls them up in the future when a background check is done and/or their credit is checked for any reason. Also, although you can't get blood out of a stone and an unemployed defendant may well be hard to pin down initially, you can reapply for the judgement to be extended and if the person who defaulted eventually lands a job you can file for their wages to be garnished.

That's a brief synopsis anyway. Hope it helps!

[witsendman]

My future apartment manager said that if their lease is broken, I must give a 30 day notice AND an additional month of rent.

If one obliges by these consequences, and there is a good reason, it seems that ones credit would not be dinged too much, but if you just get up and leave, then you set yourself up for trouble.

I defer to the wisdom of STT Resident to confirm this.

[Dale Cooper]

I'm not talking about damages, or subsequent action in the case thereof. Obviously, the tenant would forfeit their deposit.

And I'm not talking about leaving owing rent. I'm talking about leaving at the end of the month in the middle of the lease, before the next month's rent is due. I've seen some ads where first and last month is required, but that seems rare in my neck of the woods.

On my lease, as witsend says, a tenant may break the lease if they pay an additional month. But if they don't pay that additional month, unless the rent is quite high, it seems frivilous to go to court, and even if they won, how would they collect if they don't know where the tenant works or went.

It just seems like empty threats and is something I've always been curious about.

[JLB001]

I know where I work and places I have worked in the past....If you up and skip out in the middle of the night on a lease or at the end of the lease without giving proper written notice you can pretty much guarantee it will go our your credit as a skip and owing money. The extent of the dollar amount owing would depend on what the lease states can be charged, but usually rent through the full 60 day notice and 85% of one months rent for breaking the lease along with any rent concessions or discounts in rent that may have been used..And of course any cleaning charges that may be needed....Cuz you know if you skip out in the middle of the night...the joint is not gonna get a good cleaning.

Of coarse this is with the places I have worked at here in Houston.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

It depends on if the landlord has to mitigate damages how much the leaving tenant can be sued for.

Most states require the landlord to try to find another tenant as soon as possible, usually within 30 days (mitigating damages). Then they can only charge the departing tenant rent until they find someone. plus any damages, advertising costs and cleaning.

But some states allow a landlord to charge the departing tenant the entire rent left on the lease.

In case you want to wade through the laws regarding mitigating damages, here's a web site on the issue:

http://dirt.umkc.edu/files/mitigationsurvey.htm

[Kim in FL]

Breaking the lease is one thing, skipping out on the lease is another.

When ppl move out in the middle of the night, they are skipping out on the lease and the landlord may (or may not) have file a formal eviction to take possession of the unit.

When ppl break their lease, they are usually working with the landlord, paying a penalty and making sure their unit it clean even though they may (or may not) get their deposit refunded for breaking the lease.

Breaking the lease doesn't always lead to a judgment or monies owed. I always tell newbies to ask about the early termination clause and to read the clause carefully. Many leases state 2 mth rent and the deposit is the penalty for breaking the lease.

Skipping out on the lease usually ends up with a judgment and/or eviction. Good luck trying to rent with those on your record. It's not like you can lie about it, it's public record.

[Dale Cooper]

Ah, I see what you're saying.

If a tenant skips in the middle of the night, the landlord has to file formal eviction to take back control of the apartment, even though nobody lives there and the rent is unpaid. S/he can't just march in and start preparing to rent to someone else as long as there still time on the lease, even if the rent is due and not paid. And all this must be done in the legal time frames.

That makes sense.

[Kim in FL]

Originally Posted by witsendman

My future apartment manager said that if their lease is broken, I must give a 30 day notice AND an additional month of rent.

If one obliges by these consequences, and there is a good reason, it seems that ones credit would not be dinged too much, but if you just get up and leave, then you set yourself up for trouble.

I defer to the wisdom of STT Resident to confirm this.

When you break your lease according the early termination clause in your lease, your credit doesn't 'take a ding', in fact, your credit doesn't even come into play

[BELLA0670]

I just had this happen to me were the person just left after not paying rent, it all depends on what your lease says and what state you live in what can happen. I live in Florida so I don't have to try and get another tenant if I don't want to and the person who broke there lease can be held responsible for the rent for the next 6 months plus the damages that are not normal wear and tear and the place was left filthy.If I don't get a new tenant intill the end of this persons lease plus the damages and cleaning, the person will owe me quit a bit of money, and if I take the person to court it will be of public record and will be hard for the person to rent. Being a landlord is not fun, I think I am going to get a property management company to start taking care of this for me, it is such a headache I think it would be worth the money. But to answers the guys question about what can happen, alot can happen when you have a legal lease and if its worth it to the landlord to take action.