Has anyone broken an apartment lease before?

[pete6032]

So 2 months ago I signed a 1 year lease on an apartment. Small time landlord who just owns 1 property. Lease is half a page long. I have 2 roommates who are also signed on the lease. Things are just not working out and I don't see them getting better here. Everything is fine with the place but one of my roommates is very passive aggressive angry all the time and I don't enjoy being here anymore because of that. We've had conversations about it but that has not helped, and I want to get out of this place. Has anyone broken a lease before? How did you handle paying the rent and did you tell the other people you were moving out ahead of time or did you just leave? I'm worried about being on the lease but not paying, I'm fine paying to the end of the month, and even next month, but I'm afraid that the two roommates just won't end up looking for a new roomate and will just leave the place unfilled so I have to pay out the rest of the year.

 

[futurefields]

you need to find somebody to take over your end of the lease

this is your responsibility, not your roommates

good luck

 

[alkemyst]

Ultimately, this is not your landlord's problem it's your's.

Being they are dicks they will probably want your share to finish the lease.

That is fair or your get someone to take your spot (if the landlord agrees).

It's a bad place to be, bro. Good luck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUylUsG-PKA

 

[andylawcc]

i did it before, and the bill collector found me even though i moved a few states away.

but in good faith the rental property company only billed me for the months that they could not rent it out; so like I have 4 months left in the contract and someone moved in after the first month, so I only owe them 3 months of rent.

 

[Attic]

Find a replacement roomy or offer to pay some amount of rent even aftter you leave until they find new roomy.

Tell your passive aggressive roommate not to be like that.

 

[RossMAN]

As others have stated, it's your problem. Find a replacement roommate, perhaps using Craigslist and offer something extra like cash, free old laptop, anything that would entice someone to assume your lease.

Something like this but I would post more pics and offer something to entice people to contact you.

 

[alkemyst]

i did it before, and the bill collector found me even though i moved a few states away.

but in good faith the rental property company only billed me for the months that they could not rent it out; so like I have 4 months left in the contract and someone moved in after the first month, so I only owe them 3 months of rent.

I got in that too. 2 bedroom apartment that somehow had a $300 water bill for 3 months I wasn't living there (and paying my rent!).

I let it go a long time and then had to settle it to buy my house for $143 or something like that even though my name was no where one that bill.

 

[nageov3t]

what does the lease have to say about breaking it? there should be something in there.

a buddy of mine got really fucked bad by his landlord. he left the apartment on pretty bad terms, so the landlord ended up taking him to court and forcing my friend to pay rent until a replacement tenant could be found.

great guy, but man he was a fucking dumbass... he caught it in the wind that his company was about to fire him, so rather than waiting for that to happen, collecting a few more paychecks, and eventually being able to file for unemployment, he just goes out to lunch one day and never comes back, packed up all the essentials from his apartment and moved in with his girlfriend's mom.

 

[Leros]

I broke a lease 10 months early. Cost me $2000, but it was worth every penny. I'd rather be out $2000 than living somewhere miserable for 10 months.

 

[Brainonska511]

but in good faith the rental property company only billed me for the months that they could not rent it out; so like I have 4 months left in the contract and someone moved in after the first month, so I only owe them 3 months of rent.

So you moved out with 4 months remaining and the apartment sat empty for only 1 month? Generally, they can only go after you for the amount of time the apartment was empty before they were able to rent it to someone else.
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As to the OP's situation, it can suck, but perhaps next time, consider being the only one on the lease. You would then have the power to evict roommates you didn't like them after some time. On the flip side, you'd be responsible for all the rent, even if your roommates failed to pay you. Of course, even in your current situation, if the roommates decided to stiff the landlord, he could still go after you for the entire amount of the rent.

 

[andylawcc]

So you moved out with 4 months remaining and the apartment sat empty for only 1 month? Generally, they can only go after you for the amount of time the apartment was empty before they were able to rent it to someone else.
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yes, I know and expected them to, but they didn't.

 

[Brainonska511]

yes, I know and expected them to, but they didn't.

You should have told them to f* off and sent a letter with the lease (if the provision was in it) and relevant state/city laws.

 

[Ruptga]

Options for fixing your problem
1. Find someone else to take your place, have them sign a special lease saying that they're on the hook for the remainder of your lease contract. If it's not in writing, it didn't happen.
2. Get the troublemaker to shape up.
3. Get the troublemaker to ship out.

Given the difficulties of the first two, #3 may be easiest. Get yourself a subwoofer and an old ipod or something. Put the sub under their bed or someplace they'll never find it, and set the ipod to play infrasound on repeat. Crank the sub up a fair bit, but not too much or the sound will penetrate the walls and affect everyone else too. Be sure to plug the ipod into the wall as well, it may need to run for quite a while before it gets to them.

 

[D1gger]

I did once. I had to move to a new city for a job and left with 8 months on the lease. My lease specifically said that there was a three month rent penalty for early termination so I was on the hook for $3,600.

 

[Blackjack200]

So you moved out with 4 months remaining and the apartment sat empty for only 1 month? Generally, they can only go after you for the amount of time the apartment was empty before they were able to rent it to someone else.

That's right, you are on the hook if you break the lease, but it is usually legally incumbant on the landlord to actively try to find someone else to take your place and minimize your liability. That said, if you leave and he decides to just sit on his ass and bill you for every month through the end of the lease, I have no idea how that would play out in court.

For now, I would contact the landlord and let him know that you want to leave, and why. Tell him that you understand your obligations under the terms of the lease, and will honor them. Let him respond. He will either begin advertising a vacancy or have you take that on.

For next time, I highly recommend a six month lease. That's what I signed in Philly as I didn't really know my roomate at the time and didn't want to be trapped if we didn't get along.

 

[Imported]

Yes. Had to pay one month rent as the penalty. Was worth it.

 

[Schfifty Five]

i did it before, and the bill collector found me even though i moved a few states away.

but in good faith the rental property company only billed me for the months that they could not rent it out; so like I have 4 months left in the contract and someone moved in after the first month, so I only owe them 3 months of rent.

These statements are contradictory. You first state that the rental property only billed you for the months that they could not rent it out, which was 1 month according to the second statement. Yet in the end, you had to pay 3 months of rent? That does not agree with the first statement.

 

[andylawcc]

You should have told them to f* off and sent a letter with the lease (if the provision was in it) and relevant state/city laws.

i don't know anything about the law. even i was a broke college student back then i coughed up the 300 bucks or so and got it over with upon seeing the bill collector notice.

 

[andylawcc]

These statements are contradictory. You first state that the rental property only billed you for the months that they could not rent it out, which was 1 month according to the second statement. Yet in the end, you had to pay 3 months of rent? That does not agree with the first statement.

oops, I mean, i owe them only one month of rent. thanks.

 

[Schfifty Five]

oops, I mean, i owe them only one month of rent. thanks.

Ah ok. That makes more sense. I'm sure Brainonska511's responses were under the assumption that you over paid as well.

 

[Brainonska511]

oops, I mean, i owe them only one month of rent. thanks.

Oh. Okay. That makes sense then. I would have coughed up the 1 month as well, as that is the amount of time it was empty.

 

[Zee]

OP of course your roomates wont find a replacement. you are on the hook for the full year and they have 1 less person to crowd now

 

[veri745]

Gotta find your own replacement. I've done it; not that hard if you're in a college town. I don't envy you if you're not.

 

[ioni]

The penalty for breaking the lease should be detailed in the lease. I had a roommate get a job across the country so we broke our lease. "He" (his company) paid the cost of breaking the lease to the leaser and we were even able to add on the cost of me having to move.

 

[nageov3t]

That's right, you are on the hook if you break the lease, but it is usually legally incumbant on the landlord to actively try to find someone else to take your place and minimize your liability. That said, if you leave and he decides to just sit on his ass and bill you for every month through the end of the lease, I have no idea how that would play out in court.

when my aforementioned dumbass friend broke his lease, while he was responsible for paying rent until the apartment was occupied, the landlord was also responsible for taking steps to make sure it got rented out.

my stupid friend was driving past the old place like every week to make sure the "for rent" signs were still visible (if he could prove that the landlord wasn't trying to rent out the place, he might have been off the hook for the money he owed)