Anyone Ever Have To Break a Lease

[rsmith6621]

Lost my job last week

There is no sufficient employment within a reasonable distance to make the rent.

My UE insurance wont cover even the power bill.

If I stay likely Ill be evicted in a month or two.

Signed a year lease in Sept. never thinking my ex employer was in so much trouble with finances.

Anyone have an idea on how you approach your landlord to ask to have the lease broken?

Thanks

[NYC_SKP]

1. First, put yourself in their shoes. Second, try your best to cut their losses.

Is there any chance that you could line up a new tenant?

Also, do your best to leave the place is great shape.

And, think of work that may need to be done and offer to do it, painting, flooring, etc.

I've been through this a few times and it's always worked out.

I've also seen tenants take an adversarial approach to it and it worked out very poorly for all involved!

Work with him/her/them to find a solution that makes everyone's live easier!

[rsmith6621]

2. Fortunatly We

Have not done any damage.

The windows and sliding glass doors work better than when we moved in.

We replaced the broken lock on the sliding door.

Had the carpets cleaned by a PRO which wasn't done before we moved in.

Trimmed some out of control hedging

Paid our rent a week early.

and found the entry where some mice were getting in and sealed it up.

[davsand]

3. Honesty is your best policy.

I'm sorry you are in a tight spot. What will you do if you leave your current place? Have you considered or investigated any emergency programs that are out there? Is it possible to find enough cash to meet the bills for the short term?

I'd urge you to work with your landlord and tell them exactly what it going on. If you have been with them for a while (which if your RE-signed a lease, I assume you have...) they might be willing to work with you to get you through this. If you've been a good renter, they might be willing to cut you a deal on rent, or they might be willing to let you sublet without penalty--they might even be willing to work out a barter thing with you that you do some work for them for some kind of rent trade arrangement... If it is a property mgt company, it might even be possible to get your lease moved to a cheaper unit that they manage. You just never know what they can or can't do unless you talk to them and work with them.

Don't wait to get behind in rent, don't wait to go talk to them. Very often you CAN save yourself a whole lotta headaches by being pro-active with this kind of stuff.

Good luck!



Laura

[rsmith6621]

5. The Best my wife

and I figure we can do is to vacate and pay no more than 2 months as a settlement up front to give him a chance to re rent it.

It is a private owner.

Thanks

[tonekat]

4. I did once, it was expensive

I moved closer to the city. The place was too small for my furniture, plus, a couple of days before I was to move in, the woman who was living there took in a friends dog in a cage. The place smelled permanently of dog after that. I hated it immediately, and the landlord was a flaky overgrown man-child who's mom bought him the building to give him something to do instead of hanging out at the bar across the street with his moron friend all day.

He couldn't deal with his tenants, he'd call his mom to step in and negotiate. She charged me full freight to break the lease, while telling me how much she liked me. Then she told me how her ex, the landlord's dad, tried to kill her in their house. That night, I was at my ex's relating the story when my ex said "your landlord is the progeny of that guy who tried to murder his wife! You have to get out!"

Even better: The mom told me how when some little yappy dog of theirs died, the son built a shrine with tombstone and spotlights in the backyard. Insert eerie music here.

[HeiressofBickworth]

6. I was a landlord for a while

The tenants in the rental house were great. He was a contractor so he took care of every little thing there was to take care of in a house. I was sad when they said that they had an opportunity to buy a house and wanted to break the lease. Fortunately, I had previously decided when the house became vacant, I was going to move back into it. They left the house in immaculate condition so I could move right in -- I tore up the lease and returned their damage deposit. I suppose this isn't the case in all landlord/tenant situations so I advise that you first read your lease to see what it says about early termination then find out what your rights and responsibilities are under your local Landlord/Tenant laws and then work from there. Good Luck.

[sendero]

7. If you signed a standard lease....

.... you are pretty much at the mercy of the landlord. Which might be bad but not necessarily.

You can:

Just walk. You will lose your security deposit and you might wind up in a database of deadbeat renters, which will make getting your next lease difficult

Ask you landlord for an accommodation. Contact the ll and tell him/her the truth. Ask if there is any way you can get some or all of your deposit back. Fact is, s/he is going to have to find a new tenant no matter what. But if you cooperate, the whole thing can be much less work and cost for them. If you make things as easy as possible for the ll, s/he might be willing to compromise.

I'd also echo the earlier comment about the condition of the property. If you leave it so clean the ll has nothing to do before leasing it again, that's another feather in your cap.

And of course, I am a "landlord" (never really liked that term).

I'm sorry you are in this situation, but I do think it is best to try to leave on good terms, deposit returned or not. Good luck to you.

[alarimer]

8. I think it depends on your lease

Most leases I signed had a provision where you could break a lease by paying some percentage of the rent as a penalty, provided you gave 30 days notice. That's what I did the when I got my new job here.

I've also had leases that allowed me out of it free of charge if I could prove I was moving to go to a new job.

[datasuspect]

9. well you got to get down to brass tacks on this one

is it ever gonna feel right to not honor your part of an agreement? no, and it sucks.

but the landlord still owns the property, enjoys the tax benefits of owning it, might have equity, and can always find a tenant.

if the money isn't there, it simply isn't there.

i'm sure there's some kind of agreement you can come to or some form of settlement, but if there's no money, landlord will have to wait regardless.

when it comes down to shelter and food, you have to do whatever it takes to stay off the street.

compared to the landlord's INCONVENIENCE, your human welfare comes first.

sure, they can sue, but you show up at the court dates, find out any legal aid resources in your area, and keep doing your best.

[Honeycombe8]

13. Landlords can't always find another tenant.

I owned a condo that I leased. The tenants broke the lease. I was unable to find another tenant.

The good thing is....the tenants had moved in from otu of town and decided they didn't like it here. Nice couple (that matters). They were up front with me, told me their plans, acknowledged they'd lose their security deposit, and gave me at least 30 days notice. They left the place spotless. So as soon as they moved, the place was ready to show and lease.

I didn't blame the couple. It happens. They left the place immaculate and we each treated each other fairly.

I was unfortunately not able to find another tenant in the length of time I could carry the mortgage w/o a tenant, so had to give it back to the bank for foreclosure. I was up front with the bank on what had happened, and I left hte place immaculate.

It really does matter usually, not always, that you act as honorably as possible when not being able to honor your contract. It helps everyone, incl. yourself, in the long run. The bank foreclosed on me, but was able to sell it quickly (it was so cute and spotless & ready for showing), so that I didn't have a judgment against me for any loss they might have incurred.

[politicaljunkie41910]

10. I was a landlord for many years. I would suggest that you be honest with the landlord up front.

Let them know as soon as possible and work with them to help get the place rented as quickly as possible, like keeping things clean and making it available to show. Most landlords realize that you can't get blood out of a turnip, and are not interested in incurring additional legal costs and court time which will ultimately prove fruitless to try and collect.

Don't string them along promising to make payments you're not going to be able to keep in order to string out the process and frustrate them creating a difficult position for all. Plan to leave as soon as possible so as to not continue to incur costs while preventing them from finding another tenant. If you did those things and I was your landlord, I would work with you and let you out of your lease and not try to obtain future rents, even if the contract says I could. Why be a a-hole when a person is on hard times. It's not like you planned to screw your landlord. I'd like to think most landlords would feel likewise.

Sorry about your misfortune. Hope you find suitable employment soon, and good luck.

[handmade34]

11. good advice posted so far...

be pro-active and honest... contact the landlord asap and explain... most decent people will give you a break, or at least release you as soon as they find another tenant...

...as a landlord, I primarily didn't want a house (or apartment) left empty- esp. in winter. Maybe you can assist in finding new tenant?

hope all goes well for you

[fleur-de-lisa]

12. I had to do it about 6 years ago . . .

I had to move out of state unexpectedly for family reasons and I couldn't get out of the lease. The landlord was completely unwilling to work with me. So I advertised the apartment myself on a free, local website. I showed it to 3 individuals before a woman viewed it and fell in love with it. I was completely honest with her and told her my situation, and explained that she would be required to go through the normal approval process with my landlord (it was a professional company, not the actual owner).

It worked. The property management company accepted her and didn't charge me a cent for moving out early, I assume because they lost no rent and didn't have to deal with showing the property. I paid an extra half months rent to cover the time between when I moved out and the new tenant moved in, and I made sure the apartment was super clean when I left.

I think I was really lucky, but it's worth a shot.

Good luck to you, rsmith.

[meow2u3]

14. I had to break a lease because of fear for my safety

Eight years ago, I broke a lease because I wasn't informed about the following: a leaky roof that eventually caused mold and heightened police activity due to a neighbor's suspected drug activity. In fact, I had to refuse to let a cop come in my apartment so he could watch, in part because he woke me up in the middle of the night from a sound sleep.

[Honeycombe8]

15. I have been on both sides.

See my above post in response to a poster about when I was a landlord, and my tenants broke a lease.

As for me, I lived in apts for years and broke a couple of leases. Here's what I advise (not that that's what I did at the time):

1. Understand that you will lose your security deposit. Don't argue over it. If you signed a standard lease, that's in the lease. Doesn't matter why you broke the lease. That's partly what the sec. deposit is for.

2. Be sure you give the required days' notice, as required by your lease. If it says 30 days, it means 30 days. Don't include the day you give it. Start counting the next day. Better safe than sorry.

3. Whenever you are required to be out, be sure and be out (ALL of your belongings) by that day and time.

4. Try to get a TIME you have to be out. I actually had a new tenant moving in on the same day I was moving out, and he was going through my things. The landlord was getting double rent for that day.

5. Leave the place spotless. Clean the stove, the oven, the carpet (steam cleam if necessary). Spot wash walls, if necessary. This will make the landlord happy. Sometimes, if the landlord is an agent, and the place is large, they automatically paint between tenants, so washing walls isn't necessary. You might want to ask if you need to clean the carpets, or if they automatically have them cleaned.

6. Be honest with the landlord, tell him you're sorry, it's beyond your control because of what happened to you, adn that you want to work with him to make sure it's as easy on both of you as possible. People appreciate nice people and will sometimes go the extra mile to accommodate them, IMO.

7. You can't afford to run an ad for a new tenant, but if you feel safe running an ad in Craig's List for free, or something, that is a possibility. As for me, I wouldn't do that. I'm not qualified to find someone the landlord might or might not want, I can't run credit checks, etc. But another poster did that, found a tenant who qualified with the landlord, and that made things work more smoothly.

It takes guts to move to better your situation. I think it's great that you are willing to take that step and be pro-active. I had to do that years ago, and I can tell you that it worked out well for me....I moved to a place with a better economy and that had many more jobs in my field. It was hard to do at the time, and very scary. But I had to go somewhere where I could get a job. It turned out to be a great decision financially. So I can't help but think it'll work out that way for you, too. If you're the type of person who is pro-active in that way, I'm sure you will make it in the world and end up on your feet. Good luck.

[rsmith6621]

16. Resolution Is At Hand

Spoke with my landlord and he was completely sympathetic to my loss of job, infact he knows the owner personally and said he is an asshole and treats employees poorly.

So I asked him what he wanted to break it and he said he was not going to cause us further grief and he was happy to have his place occupied. I gave him assurances that the place will be move in ready on check out. I also offered him to keep the balance of our deposit and February rent since we are not able to give him 30 days notice.

Tonight a Titanic size ship has been lifted off my shoulders.

Thank you all for your thoughts.

[davsand]

17. I am glad to hear your landlord was sympathetic. REALLY glad you feel better.

May you find the perfect job at a wage that you feel is fair and just.



Laura

[elleng]

20. Very good news.

[hunter]

18. Yes. Our landlord was very nice.

We left the place better than it was when we moved in, and we'd always had a good relationship with her. She let us go without any problems and said she was sorry to see us go.

Reasonable people do not make trouble when their tenant's circumstances change as your's did. It's not like you won ten million dollars in the Lottery and trashed the place before you moved away telling the landlord to pound sand.

In many places the laws protect tenants well enough that it's simply not worth it for a landlord to go after someone who breaks a lease for the simple reason they can't pay. It makes much more sense to find another tenant who can.

[kudzu22]

19. Be honest and try to work out a deal with the landlord

Many of them are human, after all. Maybe help find him a new renter.

[grasswire]

21. where will you go?

If my memory is correct, you are in Oregon. The rental market in Portland is very very tight. I hope you have a place to land if you have to vacate.