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.

7 Responses to “What Happens If You Break An Apartment Lease?”

1. SexyTroj says:

   September 4, 2009 at 1:44 pm

   They might put it on your credit report.
   If you do that, make sure you have other references to use (use a friend and say that you rented from him).
2. Chris H says:

   September 4, 2009 at 6:55 pm

   In a lease you have signed an agreement that you will pay them the monthly amount for the entire duration of the lease. So, if you lease an apartment for a year, and after six months you move out, you are in breach of contract UNLESS you pay the remaining six months of lease that is due. That’s the black and white of it.
   In most states, however, the apartment owner/management has to make a good faith to find a replacement tenant, and when they do, you only owe them the amount to cover the period the apartment was vacant, plus any fees/penalties that are stated in the lease. You may have to pay their costs to find a new tenant as well. They may or may not report it to a credit bureau as well.
   Then you can get into the whole area of sub-letting, lease takeovers, etc.
   If you really want to know more about it, I recomend the books by Nolo Press.
3. mom2all says:

   September 4, 2009 at 11:27 pm

   Worst case scenario: You could be sued for the remainder of the lease, lose your deposit, have this go on your credit report, and not have any good references available.
4. Bobby D says:

   September 5, 2009 at 1:27 am

   It should be spelled out clearly in your lease agreement what would happen if it’s broken.
   Sometimes you don’t get your damage deposit back. I think it really depends on the lease you signed.
5. Zeta says:

   September 5, 2009 at 5:27 am

   I did that before and had to pay the next month’s rent. I didn’t tell the landlord I was moving, which was stupid of me.
6. woundshu says:

   September 5, 2009 at 10:28 am

   worst case is you get evicted for breaking the contract, it depends on what you did tho, and sometimes you can talk with your landlord and maybe fix the problem or work out a solution but you can be evicted for breakign a contract as far as i know
7. Dee says:

   September 5, 2009 at 2:17 pm

   Worse case scenario:
   You have to pay for the 10 months you wont be staying there.
   If you dont, they’ll send you to court and you’ll have a judgement…possibly.
   Usually, they’ll just take your deposit and/or charge you rent until they find a new renter.