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It appears that I have misread my lease so I am wondering if this is common.
We moved to another state, TN, and rented a townhome sight unseen. Long story short we got here and the place is not taken care of, therefore, we had a years lease cut back to 6 month lease. Looked over the lease, and all that stood out was that the landlord/property management company required a 45 day notice. We gave a 47 day notice, and in the notice specified that we would be leaving on February 15th, 2014 and would like the last month prorated (our 6 month lease was over on 1/31/14).
I went up to pay the rent today and was told that they do not prorate the last month rent and that we would have to pay a full month. I was nice but firm that we should have been told this when we turned in our notice. The property manager was off today so I did not pay rent and will do so on Monday after I talk to the manager.
Is this normal? I have not got much experience in renting nor leases. Are we still bound by the lease even though it expired last month?
I'm not going to ruin our credit by this thing and will do what is right but I really feel if they were going to charge us for the full month, that we should have been notified when we gave them our notice. Comments/experience? Thanks!
Even if your rent day was the 1st of the month, a notice requirement of 45 days would make it logical that some portion of your rent at the end of the term would be pro rated unless the lease states otherwise. You've given the required 45 days notice so yes, your rent should be prorated for the last month. As far as being bound by the terms of your lease the answer is yes. When a lease extends beyond the first term it rolls over to a month to month but with still the same terms and conditions as in the original lease.
In my opinion, whoever you spoke to is misinformed but hopefully you can square it away with the manager on Monday. You might also check the TN state landlord tenant laws which you'll find linked in the first "sticky" on this forum. Good luck, and hope the new place is in better shape!
Yes, you are bound by the lease even after it ends, if you keep on living there. Your LL does not HAVE to let you go month-to-month after your lease expires. You should have given notice on 12/16/13 that you were leaving on 1/31/14, the last day of your lease. You are asking to stay 15 days past your lease and prorate it, and they are denying your request. Unless your state law says that the LL must prorate rent in month-to-month situations, you are out of luck.
Okay I understand we are still bound by the lease, and honestly that does make sense.
However, it would appear that if they prorated the rent when we moved in (on the 10th of the month not the first), it should also be prorated on the last month. I have looked and did not see anything about this in the lease, except the month to month. I guess it does not matter what I think it is what he thinks, although it is a bit misleading, especially since I stated when and what I thought in the notice letter.
I guess they get you coming and going and believe me the next move (after this one) will be in my own home! Oh and btw STT Resident, the new place is great (I work with several people who have and who are living there)!
Thanks for your replies and for anymore that may come in
The very fact that the notice is 45 days instead of 30, says they expect to have to prorate. I think it's BS to expect you to pay beyond that time frame.
That's like saying you have to give 45 days notice to move, but have to pay 60 days rent. I can't see that being legal.
Just say no. Tell them they can just try evicting you. And you will be happy to counter sue them.
Here is what I do
Prorate move in month
Last month notice say you leave mid month. Pay full month. You leave say on 15th I do prelim walk through once you relinquish possession I do final walk through with you etc I assess any damage caused by you bla bla I do the folliowibg
Send itemized receipt of any charges for your security deposit and a check of remaining balance
Send itemized receipt of month rent broken down to daily fee. Send check with refund of remaining days not occupied
Send itemized receipt of pet deposit ( if I allowed pet) send check with refund.
With the exception of two times I never kept any deposits. The two times were a pair of tenants who painted the place and one who bounced the same month rent check twice and then. Told me he was moving out and to keep the security deposit as last month rent. Gee thanks. You're a swell guy. Sort of a mess but it taught me a lesson.
"The very fact that the notice is 45 days instead of 30, says they expect to have to prorate. I think it's BS to expect you to pay beyond that time frame.
That's like saying you have to give 45 days notice to move, but have to pay 60 days rent. I can't see that being legal." For some reason the quote button is not working for me so I put quotation marks around your post
See this is the way I feel, almost blindsided by the fact that they are clearly using the 45 days to get more rent out of someone who is not familiar with the renting laws. When you think about it, I work 8-5, 5 days a week, and they (the leasing office) closes at 5 so therefore I am not available to walk up there and speak with them at a convenient time. Most people who live here are the same way and I just think it is dishonest to mislead people.
Thanks for the links, I will speak with someone but I think they have my back up to the wall here.
Looked over the lease, and all that stood out was that the landlord/property management company required a 45 day notice. We gave a 47 day notice, and in the notice specified that we would be leaving on February 15th, 2014 and would like the last month prorated (our 6 month lease was over on 1/31/14).
Does it state anywhere in the lease (read it good and hard) that the terms are on a full calendar month? That would mean that each month is considered a month and when you give notice, you are not giving just 45 days from your date, but 45 days from the last day of the month. So if the lease ends March 31, you must give notice at least by February 15th to end the least on March 31, BUT, any notice after the 45 days ends the lease on April 30th, not somewhere in-between. So read your lease carefully looking for something that defines the term of each rental period.
"The very fact that the notice is 45 days instead of 30, says they expect to have to prorate. I think it's BS to expect you to pay beyond that time frame.
That's like saying you have to give 45 days notice to move, but have to pay 60 days rent. I can't see that being legal." For some reason the quote button is not working for me so I put quotation marks around your post
See this is the way I feel, almost blindsided by the fact that they are clearly using the 45 days to get more rent out of someone who is not familiar with the renting laws. When you think about it, I work 8-5, 5 days a week, and they (the leasing office) closes at 5 so therefore I am not available to walk up there and speak with them at a convenient time. Most people who live here are the same way and I just think it is dishonest to mislead people.
Thanks for the links, I will speak with someone but I think they have my back up to the wall here.
I looked at it the other way, they want you to give notice an extra 15 days early, rather than expecting you to move out 15 days later than normal. I don't really understand why anyone would need to move out 15 days after their lease ends, just because they require a 45 day notice. Why not give your notice 15 days earlier, which is so much easier?
I can see that after you posted it eevee but I did not look at it that way when I gave notice. Most people don't interact with the property staff except when they pay the rent, or if something is wrong.
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