Question: My husband got a job transfer to another state. We were in a 1 year lease that was to end 11/06. We moved out on 9/15/06 and broke our lease early. We spoke with the landlord as soon as we knew of the move – 3 weeks before. (By the way our landlord resides in KS not in OH.) After some back and forth negotiating, they finally agreed to let us out of the lease when they found a new tenant to take over.
We were paying $750 rent, pretty high for the area and house that we were living in. They were having difficulty renting it, when we moved in it had been vacant for several months.
When we left, they listed the house for rent for $775. At $750 it was hard to rent, they will not get anyone for $775 – not in that area or in the condition the house is in (the roof leaks.) They were lucky when we got suckered in – we were very good tenants. We cleaned the place up, hauled off a dump truck of trash, always on time with rent, fixed various small things in the house – leaking faucets, etc.
First question is, can they advertise it for rent for more than we were paying? That will make it more difficult to rent – they have only had 1 person even look at it in the 3 weeks we have been gone.
Second question is, they knew we were moving 3 weeks before we actually moved on 9/15 – yet they did not start advertising for rent until 10/1. Is this right?
Answer: It sounds as if those may be moot points if the landlord found a new tenant after you broke your lease. They can advertise it for more than you were paying in rent but this would also give you a strong argument that you are not responsible for additional rent while it sat vacant. The landlord could argue that the new rental price was what the market would bear. I think you would be in a stronger position despite breaking your lease. Generally, landlords have a duty to rerent or try to rerent the apartment as soon as they find out that you must break your lease. Not sure why they waited 3 weeks. But the landlord could have reasons.
In my publication, I advise renters to offer to pay a percentage of the rent, even though they have broken the lease, so that the landlord can offer the place for rent at a discount. Chances are it will get rented faster and the tenants who broke the lease will be only partially liable.
You Should Also Check Out This Post:
- Early Lease Termination
- ReRenting after Breaking a Lease
- Landlord's Bad Faith and Ability to Break Lease
- Trying to break your lease - obtain ammunition first.
- Constructive Eviction Weakened by Continued Tenancy
Hi, I have tenants that floded my rental. There was a sewer blockage & the tenants were told to shut off the water. The female residint continued doing laundry & dishes despite water flowing out from under the wall next to the machine. (She did turn off the water at the toilet.) The plumber did come out & clear the line by pushing through what was thought to be TP, But at some point 3 rooms of carpet & lots of walls were wet. $8500 damage not including emergency clean up & sanitization. Licensed clean up & contractos were on the jor restoring immediately. How does this look like constructive eviction? The tenants filed a small claims case within 6 days of the damage while the repairs were being done?