5 months left on contract. Small Family landlord, not rental company.
2007-08-23 10:05:27 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Business & Finance ➔ Renting & Real Estate
Ok, no more theatrics... the owner will only take you to court if you owe him money. Going to eviction court and getting judgements is expensive, worrysome, time consuming, and generally just not a hell of a lot of fun.
Here's what he COULD charge you for.
Let's assume you are on a 1 year lease for an apartment paying $1000/mo and have a $1000 security deposit. All prices and numbers below go off of these amounts. Adjust accoringly for your situation.
First thing first, check your lease to see if there is a LEASE BUYOUT OPTION. If there is, you should be able to give a 30-day notice, then pay the buyout option and any damage/cleaning/carpet fees and you will be free and clear. You may also be responsible to pay back any concessions you got at the beginning of the lease, like a free month to move in.
So, if you have this option, you would give your notice that you will be out Oct. 1st, pay Septembers $1000, Octobers $1000, your $1000 lease buyout fee, $1000 concession payback and you're out of your contract for $4,000.
Now, if you do not have this option, you are on the hook for the entire 5 months rent OR UNTIL THE PROPERTY IS RELEASED. So, one option is to find a friend who would like an apartment or just find anyone willing to release it. That would get you off the hook for most of the money.
The problem here is that no matter what, to preserve your credit and rental history, you are going to have to pay off around $4000 - $5000. It makes more sense to finish off your lease.
Now, on to worst case scenario. If you do not pay, they will file eviction on you... you will end up owing roughly $3000 - $4000 Eviction is no joke, I would NEVER rent to anyone with an eviction record unless they had some serious documentation. Either way though, if you do not pay the money, you will end up with a judgement against you which could mean they will place a lien against your property (vehicles, boats, real estate) and possibly take bank accounts and garnish wages... that's worst case.
Odds are your landlord will work with you if you are willing to pay what your contract says you will. You signed it, therefore, you are on the hook for it no matter what.
2007-08-23 11:07:37 · answer #1 · answered by colesrepair 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
If you break the lease you will automatically lose your deposit and be liable for the rent through the original lease term or until the apartment is re-rented (which ever comes first). You will also be on the hook for any damages left behind, but that would be the case anyway but this time you couldn't rely on the deposit to cover them. As a result your landlord would sue you. And if you didn't offer a forwarding address you wouldn't be notified of the court date (not a valid defense) and the landlord could get real creative with damages increasing the total amount owed. The judgment would stay on your credit report until resolved and in some jurisdiction increase with interest. All future landlords would see this on your credit report and likely deny you any future rental as a result. Most all renters rent on 12 month leases. You need to ask yourself how you life would change from 6 months to 12 months and why you would need to leave? This time of year is the best for making a transition to a new place as apartments become available in the spring (lower demand) and all get taken by the late fall, thus you may not have any options in 6 months to move anywhere else. Still I understand having commitment issues, and if that is still bothering you, perhaps this apartment isn't the right one for you. And instead you need to seek out a landlord who only rents month to month. They exist, but they are usually not as nice.
2016-05-21 01:38:47 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Small family landlords win in small claim court all the time .
The court is even more sympathetic with small family landlords than rental companies .
Worst ? You will still have to pay the 5 months left .
( Unless you have no $$$ or assets for the court to seize) .
Then it will just go on your credit report as a default .
Suggest you find a replacement tenant to prevent the losses .
>
2007-08-23 10:11:26 · answer #3 · answered by kate 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
He could take you to court, you would lose, you would have to pay all 5 months left on the lease, pay for his legal costs, pay for the filing fees for the lawsuit, pay for the service of summons fee and have to pay the court costs.
Oh and the landlord can file a judgement which if you didn't pay could lead to your wages being garnished and stay on your credit report for 7 years after you finally paid it off.
Not to mention being denied rentals in the future, paying higher interest on loans, higher interest and poorer credit card offers and being required to pay more upfront on rentals in the future
Other than that (shrug) not much
2007-08-23 10:19:33 · answer #4 · answered by Craig T 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
They could file a judgement lien against you. They could take you to court to pay the balance of the lease.
2007-08-23 10:18:25 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They can keep your security deposit and go after you legally for the remainder of your contract. If you have a legit reason for breaking your lease then most lease holder will be satisified with just keeping your deposit.
2007-08-23 10:10:29 · answer #6 · answered by daynamichelle 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
you will be held responsible for the rent until the landlord finds a new tenant
2007-08-23 10:10:44 · answer #7 · answered by goz1111 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It can ruin your credit. He can file a civil suit against you.
2007-08-23 10:09:16 · answer #8 · answered by BERT 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You get sued
2007-08-23 10:34:18 · answer #9 · answered by Bob D 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
with 30 day notice, little problem. Without, could be big problem. If you don't want to get screwed, don't screw them.
2007-08-23 10:09:36 · answer #10 · answered by wassupmang 5 · 0⤊ 4⤋