Saturday, October 31, 2009

Apartment/lease/deposit question?

I signed a year lease and its 5 months into it. And part of the lease was if you break the lease early you have to pay a months rent extra. I also paid a $300 deposit. It鈥檚 very noisy where I live. I complained to the landlord once and he didn鈥檛 do anything about it and I have called the police out there eight times within the 5 months. Still nothing. I have been looking for another place b/c I literally can鈥檛 get any rest. I found a place and plan on moving next week. I called the landlord to tell him this morning I was moving next week. He said well we will make arrangements to pay the extra rent for breaking the lease and also he would need to come check the place for damages and if there is any I will have to pay for that too. I don鈥檛 think I should have to pay for breaking the lease b/c I complained and nothing was done about it, its part of his responsibility to take care of his tenants...correct?
Answer:
First of all, since there was a lease you are technically responsible for the next months rent. However, when it comes to the security deposit, he/she cannot withhold your security. What they can do is inspect the property and any damages that were made, they must provide proof of repair, such as receipts and stuff, and attach it to the remaining deposit. They have 30 days to return your deposit or tell you where it is. In most states, the landlord must put your security deposit in an account, where it accrues interest. They are supposed to attach any paid receipts to the deposit, which will be returned.

Judges usually don't side with landlords on this one, especially since your willing to pay that extra month just so you can leave. In the event that the landlord doesn't return your deposit, then you can file a complaint in the small claims court in the county where the apartment is in, and most likely the judge will award you 2x your security, if they find the landlord was withholding your security.

Really, you have to pay that month because technically you are responsible for all the months that apartment goes unrented up until your lease is up, given that the landlord tries to rent it out in all ways possible. So if I were you I would pay that other month or possibly get sued for the remainder of the lease.
remove the nails. put white toothpaste in the holes to hide them. unless excessive... should be considered normal wear and tear.
Lease laws vary from state to state..In some you are responsible for the remainder of your lease until the apartment is re-rented. The landlord does NOT have to give your old place preference when showing apartments to new potential renters.
Say goodbye to your deposit as well in most states.--because of the broken lease. Go on a search engine and do a search for landlord/tenant laws for your state.
The place has to be left in its original condition, the way it was upon moving in, minus normal wear and tear, in order to obtain a deposit. This means it also has to be cleaned.

If the only damage is the holes, then just buy some spackle and plug them up. It actually shouldn't matter if you don't do this because that would be considered normal wear and tear, but just in case your landlord is a jerk then you won't have to deal with it. Make certain the place is cleaned, too. Take pictures of the final result if you can, so you have them in case of a dispute. The only reason you might not get your full deposit back, then, would be if you didn't give enough notice beforehand (some returns of deposits are contingent upon at least a twenty day notice by tenant before moving).

Your landlords responsibilities don't extend to keeping the neighbours quite. If you were promised a quite lodging before moving in, however, then you might have a case for breaking your lease without expectation of reprisal, but only if.

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