Can you back out of lease before moving in? (San Antonio: apartment complex, rental)

[katiemallet96]

I'm a senior in high school. My grandpa and I signed a lease at University Oaks at UT San Antonio. I won't be moving in until August. Unfortunately we didn't look at the reviews until today after signing the lease electronically online on Wednesday. The reviews are awful and we've found better options for living. We just paid a $250 deposit. Do you think it's possible to cancel the lease, even if they keep the deposit? We don't care about losing the deposit as long as we can cancel it. I'm sure they can find new tenants considering the lease won't start until August.

[TexasRedneck]

They MAY release you, but it's up to them. Don't tell them they have lousy reviews, just that you've had to reconsider because of budget, etc.......

[dihappy]

Wait, have your or have you NOT signed the actual lease?

If you already signed, well you signed and its a contract so your kinda bound by it.

Hopefully it doesnt have a terribly expensive lease breaking clause.

[CyVaquero]

Here's the deal, please feel free to double check what I'm telling you since the law may have changed since I had to go through it the other year when buying my house.

Here are a couple of good references:
Texas Tenant Advisor
http://www.houstontenants.org/Tenant...mphlet2012.pdf

If you signed a lease you are under obligation which means you should notify the lessor in writing (as is prescribed in the lease) as soon as possible, in your case the fact that you aren't occupying the property until August works on your behalf.

Here are the basics:

- You are responsible for the rent in the period of your lease until a new occupant is found - in your case this responsibility doesn't start until August, do not skip out on this as an eviction will negatively affect your credit score and renter's history.
- The lessor must make a good faith effort to find a new tenant - again with August as the start date and this being what I assume is student housing they would be hard pressed to explain why they couldn't find an occupant in the intervening 5 months if the matter ever goes to court.
- You are responsible for any damage to the unit during the occupancy period.
- Here is the part that stings - by law, you may be charged a reletting fee (on top of the occupancy rent) capped at 85% of the monthly rent. This fee must be reasonable costs associated with putting the unit back on the market and incidentals (rekeying locks, etc.) and they must provide you with an itemized breakdown of these fees upon request. This fee can not be taken out of your security deposit without your permission.

This is what the law states and any of it can be altered if agreed upon by both parties. i.e. the lessor may let you out with no reletting fee and surrender of your security deposit, if that is what you both agree to.

As always, get everything in writing and keep all receipts and correspondence. Just like some tenants are scammers so are some lessors and they will make verbal agreements only to come back and sue for eviction and back rent later on.

[austindoxie1972]

You might be able to back out. Until you "take possession" of the property, there may be ways to get out of the lease. I hope by now, things have worked out. All the best to you and your grandpa!

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by CyVaquero

- Here is the part that stings - by law, you may be charged a reletting fee (on top of the occupancy rent) capped at 85% of the monthly rent. This fee must be reasonable costs associated with putting the unit back on the market and incidentals (rekeying locks, etc.) and they must provide you with an itemized breakdown of these fees upon request. This fee can not be taken out of your security deposit without your permission.

Most of your advice is good, but I have read the state landlord tenant law several times and can find nothing in it about a reletting fee. I think you are mistaken about this. It sounds like something that came out of an apartment association lease rather than the law.

Here is the law, check it yourself. http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.u.../pdf/PR.92.pdf

There are lots of other good resources and fact sheets here Austin Tenants’ Council/Tenant-Landlord Fact Sheets

The tenant will loose the deposit and the landlord may be entitled to sue them for lost rent up until they can find a new tenant, but the landlord does have a legal obligation to try and find a new tenant to mitigate the damages.

I believe this subject was discussed at length previously in the Renting forum and the consensus was that in most states if the landlords charges and keeps an application deposit the courts are not likely to grant him additional damages should a prospective tenant decide against moving in.

[Hedgehog_Mom]

You just need to call them and ask. Don't say it was because of the reviews (which are terrible for every apartment complex in town, by the way...people complain when they don't like something, but they don't go out of their way to leave a good review when they do like something, so all you see is the bad). Say that your plans have changed. Ask what you'll be liable for.

Since it's on-campus housing, the lease may be totally different from regular apartment leases. You could also read your lease and see what it says about canceling.

[need4speed2012]

In short: once the rental lease agreement has been signed, you and the tenant have entered into a binding contract.

Start looking for someone else to take your place, which shouldn't be hard !!!