Need to relocate due to husband’s job. Landlord giving us a hard time…what are our rights? What can she do?
June 6th, 2011 | 
Author: We are moving out of state due to my husband’s job. We have 9 months left on a 2 year lease. We have been great tenants, and ALWAYS pay our rent on time. We paid first, last and security upon moving in. We are using the last month we already paid for the month of October, and are actually leaving on the 12th of October. We are willing to forfeit our security deposit and the rest of October’s rent. We also found someone to move in, and they already have a verbal agreement with the landlord and are moving on the 1st of November. Our landlord is now asking for an additional months rent…For what???? She is threatening to take us the local magistrate. Has even gone as far as saying she will get my huaband’s wages garnished. Seriously? I feel that we have done everything we had to do to live up to our end of the contract, and this woman is just trying to make things difficult. I even consulted an attorney that said if taken to court, the landlord would most likely lose based on what I have said. I would love some opinions on this….thanks in advance!!
Oh my goodness…isn’t anyone reading the post correctly? Someone is moving in on November the 1st. How can the landlord legally collect double rent? I know that landlords have rights, but so do tenants. It is the law that the landlord make a reasonable effort to find a replacement…its called mitigating damages. If she already has rent for October and the whole security deposit equal to one months rent, how can she be threatening to sue me or ask me to pay another months rent when someone is moving in 2 weeks after we move out????
Posted in Landlord Tenant Law
1] keep receipts for everything
2] copies of lease too
3] ask human resources at work if they can help [ could say no, you won't be worse off! ]
4] get a lawyer
You feel you have lived up to your contract? Have you READ your contract concerning breaking the lease, because that’s what you’re doing. Does it say you have the right to break it due to a job change?
realistically, the land lord probably won’t pursue any legal action. Once you are out of state, it will cost him more than it is worth to go after you .
Just leave on the 12th like you plan and tell him bye bye.
1. Tenants that pay their rent on time…are only abiding by their lease. It does NOT make them “great tenants”.
2. What does your lease state about a termination fee?
3. Moving out because of a job relocation is NEVER a legal reason to break a lease without penalty.
Breaking a lease is expensive. Your lease agreement is a legally binding contract. The fact that your husband needs to relocate due to his job is not the landlord’s problem. You agreed to live there for a set period of time and are now breaking the contract. She can take you to court and sue you for rent plus court costs. Most landlords charge 2 months rent plus administrative fees to break a lease.
If you aren’t going to write a check she will need to garnish his wages. She is entitled to 25% of the gross. How else do you think she should do it?
You owe her rent until she has a new tenant in there, when you move doesn’t mean anything, you have a CONTRACT for 9 more months.
If she moves some one in Nov 1 you will not owe her any more money.
She can’t double dip, that is, she cannot charge you AND another for November. UNLESS it’s in the lease. READ the lease. if it’s not in the lease, tell her to go nuts and use you, she won’t win.
You need to read the LEASE and see what stipulations are involved in breaking your lease. Many leases call for a penalty fee of 1 or 2 months rent. If your lease does not have a penalty clause then tell landlady you will see her in court.
The attorney you contacted is absolutely correct. If the new tenant moves in on November 1, and begins paying the same amount of rent as you were paying, and you are paid up through October, then landlord is not entitled to a single dime more from you.
Let her go to the local magistrate. She will lose.