[quote name='Lieutenant Dan']So we just signed a lease Tuesday and my girlfriend just lost her job about 20 minutes ago. Her company was involved in a merger and, despite the fact that she was told many times her department was safe, she's gone.
Is there anything we can do to get out of the lease without giving up the security deposit? Will breaking the lease have a negative effect on our credit?
This sucks...[/QUOTE]
If you've signed the lease and paid the deposit, you're SOL unless the complex is exceedingly humane and feels sympathy. Which, hey, they might if you explain the situation. But that's hugely YMMV.
There's a few ways to get out of lease:
1A) Just leave and hope that the complex won't waste their time/money to come after you, in which case all you have to deal with is your conscience. Normally you do this after you've paid some months worth of rent, because then they have little incentive to waste time on like...2-3 months of rent
1B) Leave and they do come after you, which leads to options 2 and 3:
2) Leave, but pay off the rent yourself
3) Leave, but sublease it so that someone else pays the rent (You can either tell the complex about this or not. It is suggested that you do, but normally there are bullshit fees when you do that. If you can steal sublet it without problem, go for it. Dunno how easy that is.)
4) Try to get out of the lease in a legal way. Like complain that your dishwasher doesn't work and give them written notice. Usually your lease will have a stipulation that says if you give written notice about a problem and they don't fix it in X days, you can legally break the lease. Usually the timeline is like 30 days and you have to have given them 2 written notices, the second usually two weeks later
I honestly wouldn't know if it would affect your credit score, but I remember hearing that a complex can report you...somewhere, and that will make it harder for you to get an apartment in the future. When I got my first apartment a lot of complexes wanted a history of my previous rents - if I paid on time, etc. So I imagine it will come back to haunt you if the complex wants to go after you, so it's really not worth the risk.
As for the deposit, my parents have a good rule - "Just expect you won't get it back." That's pretty much long gone at this point unless you find a way to stick around.
Sorry to hear about it. Good luck.