Comments on: How Does The Typical Apartment Lease Work – If I Decide I Want To Move Out Mid-year?

By: CFPwunaB

CFPwunaB — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:23:27 +0000

Read your lease carefully. Your landlord can make any term or condition he or she wants – in other words every lease is different. They could be generous or they could be absolutely rock solid. You just have to read the fine print.

By: My Take on It

My Take on It — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:57:59 +0000

You lose your security deposit
You may be sued
You may be held accountable for 3 mos rent
Read the lease you are signing for the clause that addresses early termination.

By: sue p

sue p — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:51:51 +0000

YOU DEFINITELY WILL LOOSE YOUR SECURITY DEPOSIT READ YOUR
LEASE. MOST LEASES WILL STATE YOU CAN BE RESPONSIBLE FOR
REMAINING PAYMENTS BECAUSE YOU SIGNED THE RENTAL CONTRACT
WHICH IS A LEGAL DOCUMENT.
A LANDLORD

By: wishingo

wishingo — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:57:44 +0000

I know were I work we give you two lease break options. The first is pay a settlement fee at our property the settlement fee is equivalent to two months rent. The second option is stay rent responsible until we re-rent the apartment or your lease expires whichever happens first. I would go to your leasing office and ask what your options are. If you don’t break your lease properly it will effect your credit and being able to rent in the future.

By: towanda

towanda — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:41:40 +0000

A lease is a legally binding contract. You are liable for whatever you agreed to. Could be they might be happy with your deposit and could be there are all sorts of reletting charges or they can accelerate the lease and you are liable for all of it. Tain’t that simple dearie. You are responsible for your actions. . .you might have to learn to suck it up and like it until your lease is up. One thing for sure, you will be paying. Next time look things over a bit before you sign.

By: Trouble

Trouble — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:34:25 +0000

Read your lease. Is there an early termination clause? Is there an early termination fee or penalty listed in the lease? Re-letting fees … liquidated damages?
If your lease is silent on the matter, it is because you are expected to fulfill your lease obligations.
Generally, you would be liable for the rent until either a replacement tenant is found or the lease expires. The landlord can also hold you liable for any costs he incurs due to your breach, such as advertising costs, agent fees, court costs, attorney fees, property damages, etc.
Any of the above mentioned costs can be deducted from your security deposit and you will owe whatever the balance is.
The landlord can sue you for the above mentioned costs, report it to the credit bureaus and ruin your rental history..

By: Wildcat

Wildcat — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:15:03 +0000

You could lose your deposit and owe rent for the rest of the lease. It depends on the lease, every one is different. It is never cheap to break a lease and it is never a good idea to do it unless you have no other option. Besides the monetary penalties it will make it near to impossible to ever rent another place.
If you think that you may not want to stay then you need to find a place that will do a month to month or a 6 month lease.