Is Breaking A Rental Apartment Lease A Really Bad Thing To Do?
I’m in a situation where I may need to break a lease. It is $1000 to do so. Can they still make me pay the rent on the apartment evne though I’v broken the lease and am not obligated to it? How much time do they usually require to do so? Can I be taken to court even if I do not owe them any money?
Legally you are required to pay rent- and depending on the lease- utilities and yard care- if you break the lease. Leases aren’t broken unless both parties agree, so what you’re probably really asking is what will happen if you move away without paying the rent.
HARDNOSE OWNER: He will keep the rent clock ticking and send you reminders to pay the rent as the months go buy. Then, at the end of your lease, he will sue you, win, and garnish your wages.
REASONABLE OWNER: He will remind you that you are responsible for paying the rent until he (or you) locate another acceptable tenant.
NON-EXISTANT OWNER: He will say “Not a problem- have a nice life!” and let you break the lease.
Most leases will state a penalty if you have to break it. If your penalty is $1000, then you will be out of the lease if you pay that amount in full. For one apartment I rented, I only lost my deposit. For another apartment I rented, I lost my deposit and had to pay for the next month’s rent plus fees–that cost me $1450. You can only be taken to court if you don’t pay the $1000.
If you follow the right steps by working with you rental office it should be ok. I recently had to break my lease as well. We alerted them as soon as we could which is a good thing to do, they can start looking for new tenants sooner. Pay your penalty in full and make sure you’re given a receipt or record of some kind to keep on file. Your first step is talk with the rental office and get all the details.
The only bad thing about breaking your lease is it may affect a future landlords decision to rent to you if they ask your current landlord for a reference.
YES- IT is a bad thing – it will ruin your credit.
YES – They can ask you to pay the rent thru the end of the lease, and you ARE still obligated to it even if you break the lease. It just depends on what your lease states they can charge you.
NO – They can’t take you to court if you don’t owe money
They can make it a big deal, but usually if you have been a decent tenent and they aren’t hard asses you should not have a problem.
You can be held liable for the remaining rent until they can re-rent the property.