breaking an apartment lease

D

daria19

CAGiversary!
Has anyone had to break a lease? I am about half way into my current lease, and the company that I worked for closed their CT site. My new job is in the Phila area, so commuting from this apartment is definately not realistic.

I talked with a guy from the rental office, and he seemed like they wanted to be reasonable. I received a paper today that asked when I would be leaving, and said that I would be liable for rent until the end of my lease unless the landlord would find another tenant in the meantime. In addition, a fee is being assessed against my security deposit for breaking the lease. A statement was made on said paper that if I provided an incorrect date, the landlord intended to sue me (breaking contract plus money for inconveniencing the new resident). This complex is owned by a company in NYC, for what that is worth.

I won't have my moving estimate done until next week, and, even though my intention is to push for a quick move, I won't know the exact date until after this estimate is complete. Given the statement about potentially suing me, it is tempting to eat a few weeks rent to be on the conservative side.

Based on your experience, is this standard? Were you liable for paying utilities up until the end, even though you were not living in the place? What about repairs to the apartment that were clearly not your fault (roof leaked, for example), but might prevent another tenant from moving in immediately if noticed? Did you need to retain a lawyer's services for breaking your lease, or am I stressing out too much about the worst case scenerios?

Thanks.
 
Just google "breaking your lease"... there are tons of sites out there with advice and tales of experience.

Also, do you have a copy of the terms of your current lease? There should be a moderately lengthy section in it about the rules of engagement for breaking your lease.

For me, it's two months rent, though I've got some contingency plans to get out of that if I need to.
 
You're probably liable for the duration of the lease since it's a contract unless you have something in writing that lets you out of the lease (i.e. giving 3 months notice or something like that). However they shouldn't take anything out of your security deposit unless the lease also specifically mentions that as well. It may be easier just to see if you can find someone to replace you or sublet it if the landlord will let you do this.
 
First dig up your rental contract, it should (hopefully) include a statement explaining the penalties for breaking your contract. Then make sure they asses only those fees to you, so if they require 2 months rent, then you should only have to pay 2 months rent not 2 months rent + deposit.

Also you might want to see if you can sub-let your aparment, that way you wouldn't be breaking your lease at all.
 
[quote name='zionoverfire']First dig up your rental contract, it should (hopefully) include a statement explaining the penalties for breaking your contract. Then make sure they asses only those fees to you, so if they require 2 months rent, then you should only have to pay 2 months rent not 2 months rent + deposit.

Also you might want to see if you can sub-let your aparment, that way you wouldn't be breaking your lease at all.[/QUOTE]

Thanks to all for your advice. I guess I was just being naive; my new lease is even worse. The last time that I needed to get out of a lease, it was only a month early and the rent was much lower so it was easier. There are clauses which forbid subletting (only allow named parties to reside in the apartment), so I can't do that. I guess these guys have been burned, so they are treating everyone like they are going to run off in the middle of the night or something.
 
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