So I terminated my lease early, but paid the remaining rent left on the term. At the beginning of my lease my landlord collected first and last month's rent. Can he legally charge us one months rent after the termination of the lease for "damages", even though there are no damages?
2007-08-14 14:33:26 · 6 answers · asked by Dsgnrgrl 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Renting & Real Estate
This is a perfect question for Project Sentinel. Look them up online or in the yellow pages. Or look up Tenant/Landlord Advocates and give someone a call. They can help you with all the legal languagethat's used in your lease and they'll explain the laws. And if there is something that is going on that is illegal then they'll give you a lawyer to help you. I know that CA is really bad about this stuff. I never have gotten any security deposit back in CA, but in MA and in MD I've gotten all of it back. It's really dependent on what was written in the lease that you signed.
2007-08-14 14:47:18 · answer #1 · answered by Gab&Thomas 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if you terminate the lease early you forefit your security the security deposit is NOT just for damages to the property but it also "secures" the rights of the landlord. It is soo very standard in almost all leases that if you terminate early you lose your deposit. Esp if you do not give 30 days in writing.
2007-08-14 14:48:42 · answer #2 · answered by "Ask Dr. Stupid" 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If there are no damages he can't charge for them. We rented from a crooked company once that asked us for a list of things they should fix in order to raise the rent and then charged us for everything we had written down. I couldn't afford to sue them, but should have.
2007-08-14 14:41:02 · answer #3 · answered by Nelson_DeVon 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He can keep the security deposit if he can prove that the cost to repair the damages was worth enough to keep your security deposit. He would have to be able to prove there are damages (pictures, etc)
2007-08-14 14:43:35 · answer #4 · answered by ♥Jara-Lee♥ 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He can charge you any amount if there are damages. If there are no damages, then yo should not have to pay anything.
If you had given him a security deposit up front, he would be required to refund it to you if there are no damages.
2007-08-14 14:42:12 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
LAST MO'S RENT CAN ONLY BE COLLECTED IF ITS DUE........THE DEPOSIT IS THE ONLY THING THAT GETS DAMAGES REMOVED FROM IT.
CHALLANGE THEM
2007-08-14 14:42:00 · answer #6 · answered by ticketoride05 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋