We live in a Missouri apartment and found a nice apartment elsewhere. We were supposed to move into the new apartment on Sep., but ended up getting moved up to the end of Aug. To give our landlord enough time we extended the move out date to Sep 2 giving our landlord 30 days notice. Problem is our lease says that we need to give a written notice by the first of the month, so our landlord is saying we have to pay for Sep. rent for being 1 day late. She isnt budging, not willing to understand our situation, and not even allowing for a pro-rate.
I did find this in the missouri state law:
(1) Except as provided in subdivision (2), the landlord or the tenant may terminate a month-to-month tenancy by a written notice given to the other party stating that the tenancy shall terminate upon a periodic rent-paying date not less than one month after the receipt of the notice.
Do we really have to pay for Sep rent or is our landlord being difficult?
2007-08-03 06:50:05 · 8 answers · asked by B S 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Renting & Real Estate
yes...unfortunately she is not "one of those nice landlords" and she uses every technicality to get $$$$.
you are stuck...maybe she will let you make payments, but i doubt it- she will then start hitting you with late fees probably.
sorry dude...hope your new landlord is nicer.
good luck :)
2007-08-03 06:57:17 · answer #1 · answered by Blue October 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
You say your lease says you have to give notice by the first of the month, and the state law says the tenant may terminate a month-to-month tenancy by a written notice given to the other party stating that the tenancy shall terminate upon a periodic rent-paying date not less than one month after the receipt of the notice.
By either of these, if you didn't give notice until Aug 2, sounds like you are on the hook for the September rent. The "periodic rent-paying date" mentioned in the law is, I assume from your question, the first of the month - Sept 1 would be less than 1 month after you gave notice, so Oct 1 would be the first date to qualify by this law.
2007-08-03 14:43:04 · answer #2 · answered by Judy 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Your landlord is being difficult. You can terminate your lease within 30 days of your leaving. It does not have to be by the first of the month. It sounds like your management company is small, or run by a private owner that doesn't know too much about the law. I would print that out and give it to them. If they're still being a pain, talk to their supervisor. If that doesn't work, threaten to call a lawyer.
I'm sure you'll find someone reasonable along the way that will allow you to turn in your 30-day notice now instead of later.
You also might want to check out any local tenants rights websites in Missouri. When I was in apartment management, I knew of several tenants rights websites in Washington. Keep in mind that property management is a tough business and people like to make up their own rules as they go along. Sadly, most of them are illegal.
Just a few more words after reading some of the comments above. It does depend on your contract, of course. However, lease contracts are highly regulated by State and Federal fair housing laws. Unless your contract states clearly that a 30 day notice must be turned in by the 1st of the month, you have a strong case against your management company. I'd venture to say that your apartment manager is just being lazy and "doing things the way they have always been done", instead of what is legally stated in your contract. Read the fine print, first. It should all be there. That's my 2 cents...
2007-08-03 14:01:50 · answer #3 · answered by rattwagon 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
If you were suppose to leave by September, and was push to the end of August; when you say end of August, I assume the 30 of August. If you extended to September 2nd then there is plenty of time for your notice to be compliance with the 30 days, because you have already have told her earlier. May be I´m not quite understanding, but anyway, if you are shy 1 day from your 30 days notice. She has all the legal right to ask you for the rent of that month, because you gave her 29 days. What you can do is not pay her and wait and see what she or he does. If she or he takes you to court, pay then. Sometime there is only a bark and no bite.
good luck.
2007-08-03 14:10:32 · answer #4 · answered by ROB 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The key to this answer lies in your lease agreement. If you signed a lease contract which stated that you must give 30 days notice before vacating the property, you will probably be held to that. It seems that your landlord could terminate your lease if (s)he wanted to, but in this case, it seems like his/her action is justified. Additionally, if it came down to it, you would have to weigh the difference of costs of hiring an attorney versus paying the last month's rent.
2007-08-03 14:00:59 · answer #5 · answered by gtlassiter@sbcglobal.net 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Technically you have to give 30 days notice, so i think they can even sue you for THE NEXT month.
If i were your landlord, i Wouldnt budge either.
If you had a job loss, or some other emergency, I would try to be lenient, but just finding another, nicer apartment, doesnt really cause me to want to be sympathetic to your situation.
2007-08-03 14:59:35 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unfortunately, since it is in your lease it seems like you are stuck. You can always try taking it to court, but you did sign a binding contract agreeing to those stipulations. Sorry!
2007-08-03 13:55:18 · answer #7 · answered by Olivia 3 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Sorry to say, it's the law and you signed an agreement for it. It sucks, I know, but it is fair.
2007-08-03 13:58:21 · answer #8 · answered by Keep On Trucking 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋