how can I get out of my apartment lease?

Question

I looked at every question that was posted and none spoke to this situation. I got divorced from my wife 2 months ago and cant afford to live at my place anymore. She took herself off the lease and left me on, and I have to pay 1800 bucks to break the lease. so my question is what happens if I dont pay the 1800 dollars when I leave early? does it go on my credit or go to collections? and also I know how I could get purposely evicted, just by having someone not on the lease live with me. is that better to do and have on my record then an 1800 charge? I've already looked into roommates or subleasing. No go. any help or insight or experience appreciated.

Answer 1

DON'T DO ANYTHING TO GET EVICTED... That is the WORST thing you could do, this will haunt you for years to come, it isnt like certain items on credit with will stay with you for many many many many years. Most properties won't accept you if you have been evicted from another property (normally the only ones that will are the ones you don't want to live at).

Yes, the 1800 dollars will go on your credit if you remains unpaid, try and speak to them about making payment arrangement on it, normally landlords will go out 60-90 days, which may not seem like a long time, but it helps!

Contrary to what someone stated earlier that they have to draw up a new lease if she was removed in inaccurate, there is a single page form (basically and ammendment) that both YOU and HER must sign for it to be valid, if this form is NOT signed by both of you then she IS still responsible for the lease. If for some reason they accepted just her signature then you need to take it to court.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

First your wife can not take herself off of the lease. The only way she can do this is if the landlord agreed to it and wrote you a new lease with your name only. If this did not happen she is still a legally responsible party on the lease.

If you are now truly the only one on the lease, and your landlord really did take your wife off. I do not see why they would have a problem putting a roommate on. They would much rather have the rent paid instead of having to take the time to go through the eviction process. If that is not a possibility then you are either going to have to come up with the $1,800 or work it out some other solution such as a payment plan with the landlord.

Answer 3

Aside from paying the $1800 you cannot just try to get evicted. Even with an eviction you will have to pay out the balance of your lease (in most states). It will go on your credit and go to collections if you don't pay within a certain period of time. Your best bet is to talk to the landlord and see what you can work out. Sometimes, they will work with you if they have renters on a waiting list and/or they know they can rent your apartment within a short period of time. Have you tried craigslist? They have a sublease section and maybe you can find someone on there.

Answer 4

If you walk on the $1,800 it will almost certainly go to collections and wind up on your credit record. That's bad, but nowhere near as bad as an eviction would be. When I was a landlord I would work with folks who had credit problems, but evictions were a deal killer in all but one case -- a woman who had been evicted while hospitalized following a hit-and-run by a drunk driver.

Why did you consent to letting your wife off of the lease? That's just not very wise, IMHO. (If you didn't consent, the landlord letting her off is meaningless, she's still liable and you could sue her for half of anything you lost by breaking the lease.)

If your lease calls for an $1,800 penalty for breaking it you'll have to talk to the landlord and see if he's willing to move on that any. Anything can be negotiated. Offering to advertise and keeping the place spotless for prospective tenants and allowing them to view at any time that's convenient for them and the landlord may help soften him up a bit. (It always worked with me.)

Answer 5

It will show up on your credit report if you don't pay what they ask, see if you can make payments on the 1800.00. Some places will not rent to you if you just leave. Sorry to hear about your problem. If you have no other choice just bail. They can still take you to court and get a judgment against you.

Answer 6

Seriously study the lease and find out how the landlord could breach the contract and try to make that happen. The place must become unlivable somehow. Nudge-nudge, wink-wink? Get it? Got it? Good!