Amazon.com Review Anyone who's ever run afoul of a landlord will appreciate the information contained in Every Tenant's Legal Guide, a comprehensive handbook of tenants' rights put out by Nolo Press. Are you curious about the strange-sounding clause in your lease? What's the best way to make sure your security deposit is returned when you move out? Janet Portman and Marcia Stewart answer these and countless other questions as they walk readers through each step of renting, from finding an apartment to giving notice. Credit reports, rent control, grace periods for late rent, privacy rights, evictions--the book lists the legal rights and responsibilities of both landlord and tenant in almost every rental situation imaginable. If you do get into legal difficulties, the state-by-state charts listing key landlord-tenant laws might come in especially handy. But the time to acquire this book is before things come to such a pass. With Every Tenant's Legal Guidein hand, you just might save yourself a lot of aggravation--and money. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

6 Responses to “Is Breaking A Rental Apartment Lease A Really Bad Thing To Do?”

1. Sagebrush Kid says:

   September 14, 2009 at 10:28 am

   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.
2. Junior says:

   September 14, 2009 at 1:01 pm

   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.
3. Linny says:

   September 14, 2009 at 3:50 pm

   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.
4. Wildcat says:

   September 14, 2009 at 6:20 pm

   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
5. Michael B says:

   September 14, 2009 at 6:50 pm

   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.
6. Tim says:

   September 14, 2009 at 7:58 pm

   You can be held liable for the remaining rent until they can re-rent the property.