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Ramifications of breaking lease?

16 years ago

I'm wondering - if you give up your deposit and break a rental lease - are there any other ramifications? Can it show up on a credit report for example? Other places?

Comments (10)

zone_8grandma
16 years ago
As a landlord, we ask prospective tenants for contact information from their previous landlords. And we call them. References are much more important to me than a credit report.

I would not rent to someone who had broken a lease, unless there were some very mitigating circumstances.
alphacat
16 years ago
Why do you think that breaking a lease involves only giving up your deposit? Didn't you agree to pay rent for the entire term of the lease?
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Breaking a lease
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Comments (1)
This is about as close as is gets at GW to a section remotely for a landlord question ;) You are absolutely right, you will have a tough time renting in Feb. I had a tenant bail on me in late Nov once, by sheer luck I found a senior couple w/no kids who wanted to move in January. Otherwise the prospects were not there. I always renew my leases in warm weather (typically May/June) for that reason. Kids out of school for the summer, easier to move, etc. Yes, absolutely keep his deposit. (I normally wouldn't add this to a landlord but since you're asking if you can keep it: double check the language on your lease to make sure it includes breaking the lease, lost rents, and not damages alone. If you used a preprinted form then breaking the contract will be covered.) If he leaves you will need to send a Termination of Lease Notice (send it Certified w/signature required and hand-deliver a copy as well). If he rejects the Certified and it comes back to you, keep it in your files unopened. State in the Notice that you're retaining his Deposit for breach of contract and lost rental income, then list the date the lease ended and the early date he bailed out. (If you need a sample form to use click on my ID and email me, I'll send you one.) Technically, not only can you keep his deposit, he owes you rent till the end of the term of the lease (a binding contract), even if he's not living there. That would mean going to court to collect. If you did manage to continue collecting even if he bails, a landlord is expected to re-rent so you could only hold him liable for rents owed up until the day you get the unit occupied with a new tenant and start collecting rents from new tenant. (Can't collect double rents.) Can you at least get him to hold off till March or April? Consider letting him pay Feb in installments or at a reduced rate? If he bails in March, you've got that month covered with his deposit (providing he didn't trash the place). By April the weather will be breaking and you'll be in a better place to rent it. It really would be in your best interest to try to keep it occupied till the weather breaks. You'll have to weigh rents you get versus no rent, and ask yourself if partial rent is a viable option. Keep in mind you'll have utility expenses on top of cleaning and advertising, you'll have to keep some heat on while it's vacant so pipes don't burst. I've had tenants make serious noises about leaving in dead of winter either because a roommate on the lease bailed unexpectedly or one long time tenant lost his job. I got flexible at that point, because some rent is better than no rent in Jan/Feb in the Chicago area ;) In the one instance I let the remaining roommate pay in installments (they borrowed from a friend) and in the other I gave the guy who lost his job a reduced rate (50%) just to keep the place occupied and buy another month closer to warmer weather. Both times it worked out, within a month the one tenant secured another job and the other situation the tenant found a roommate. It helped the the tenants and me. I made sure it was crystal clear up front it was a one time deal, that I have expenses to meet that come out of rents, etc., and I was not doing this as a favor to my tenants, it was for my benefit. They respected that and didn't push for more. If he does leave and you re-rent, do what you have to so the next lease does not renew in winter.
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breaking lease?
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You need to check with the landlord or a lawyer to be sure, but to me that clause says that you need to pay the amount of 2 extra months of rent, over and above the rent you owe for the time you live in the apartment. The 2 months rent is a sort of penalty you have to pay to break the lease. If you have several months left on the lease, that's actually a pretty good deal. Many places will not let you out of a lease at all, and you are responsible for paying rent for the entire year, unless your landlord can find a new tenant.
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i need to move out! break lease????
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Comments (3)
It is not in the landlord's best interest to remove you from the lease and replace you with the no credit/dwi guy. You might want to start looking for opportunities to be away from the apartment. Any possibility of traveling for your job? Do you have friends who could make you the third or fourth person in their apartment but only spend a couple nights a week there? Go visit mom and dad more often? Sister or brother who you could visit? Fall in love and spend more time with your SO? Offer to house sit while people are on vacation. Find someone on craigslist in a similar situation and trade - hey, that would make a cool movie concept. OR, maybe your roommate would be happy to have you leave and all you need to do is talk with him about it.
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Break lease, apt rented but landlord still charges 2 months penal
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Comments (4)
I am sorry. There was a previous message that was inadvertently sent without the corrections incorporated into this response. (GardenWeb failed to send the corrected version). Hopefully this additional information will prove more useful. I run a program that helps people break their leases, albeit we operate in Arizona. Often we encounter these situations. The issue here is whether or not a there is a 'liquidated damage' clause in the lease that is assessed in lieu of actual potential damages that could be hard to calculate. It is contrary to public policy to assess both liquidated and actual damages. So if your old landlord is attempting to get you both ways, you can argue that the liquidated damage is void. Also, it should be understood that it is contrary to public policy for contracts to contain penalties. Thus, if the break lease fee was characterized as a penalty, you could argue it was void on that basis. Finally, a liquidated damages must be a reasonable approximation of what the damage could be. If it is beyond what could be reasonably expected to suffer, then it could be construed as void as a penalty. I think two months is the outer limit of what is reasonable. You may want to check out the tenant library area of our website, http://aztenants.org/library.htm for other factors that often arise whe people break their leases. For example, issues relating to security deposits often come into play. Because Arizona's state landlord-tenant act is based on the uniform landlord-tenant language adopted by many other states, a lot of the topics we cover may apply to people outside Arizona. Here is a link that might be useful: Arizona Tenants Advocates
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liz_h
16 years ago
That's a good point - and some landlords won't try to rent out the unit as long as you're on the hook for the rent. This is pretty unusual, but hey, some people will do anything.
western_pa_luann
16 years ago
"I'm wondering - if you give up your deposit and break a rental lease - are there any other ramifications?"

Yes, you will still owe for the remainder of the lease. If you don't continue to pay, you may be take to court... then you will have lawyer fees too!
coolvt
16 years ago
The landlord has the obligation in most states to try to rerent the apartment as soon as possible. However, if the landlord has many similar apts. vacant he/she will be tempted to show and rent those first since you will be on the hook for your former apartment. So, not a great idea to just leave. Talk with your landlord and possibly something can be worked out.
What does your lease say? Sometimes leases have a "buy out" clause, where you can break the lease for a certain price...sometimes 2 or 3 month's rent.
joyfulguy
16 years ago
Once you find out what your obligation may be - e.g. having to pay for the full term ... you may want to try to re-rent it yourself ... if your lease allows a sub-let.

Your landlord may well have the opportunity to refuse to accept your prospective tenant.

And if a sub-lessee defaults on the rent ... guess who'll be on the hook to make good on that default?

Check your lease carefully, first.

ole joyful
marys1000
Original Author
16 years ago
I'm not in a lease - haven't been in forever but may be renting soon on a relocation. I hope to find a decent place that has a month to month option. I do not plan on breaking the lease but as I just ordered my credit report for the first time in eons and I've been thinking about all this stuff I started wondering.
I did ask right out on a phone call with one apt complex and they said you basically give 30 days notice and 1 months rent (not sure if thats in addition to the deposit, essentially 2 months rent?) and pay the full some of any "special" deals you got.
talley_sue_nyc
16 years ago
good for you for planning ahead.

However, be sure that any such "deals" are IN WRITING in your lease!

And good luck
minet
16 years ago
We moved long distance and rented an apartment while looking for a house to buy. The apartment lease was for 6 months and would expire at the end of March. We found a house earlier and wanted out - we gave notice at the end of December and paid for January (still living there) and then paid an additional month's rent to break the lease. Moved out at the end of January and then they used the security deposit to clean the carpet etc.

So our penalty for breaking the lease was the equivalent of a month's rent. And that penalty was spelled out in the written lease, since we knew there was a chance we wouldn't stay the whole lease period. If we had stayed the whole 6 months then we could have gone on a month-to-month lease, but then the landlord has the option of raising the rent every month.
jleek
16 years ago
Mary's1000--there are many apartment complexs out there that have various leases ie one month,2 3 and so on. My ex rents with Archstone on the east coast and he is trading in from a one bedroom to a two bedroom and we were just discussing all of this. These new complex's have everything, conference rooms, pools, gyms etc. I think this is the wave of the future and plan on going that way soon myself.

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