Breaking your lease

I was just curious if any of you have ever had to break an apartment lease before.

We are subletting a place to friends of ours, at the moment, and have been for a little over a year.

The week after we resigned the lease, the apartment became infested by mice.

Our friends have basically been living in a living nightmare, having to deal with mice and mouse shit everywhere ever since.

We are afraid our subletters might bounce. They are basically at their wits end. We don't really have a current-standing legal document with them, because never sent a makeshift lease renewal to them when we renewed our lease.

Anyway,

We are curious... What could be the worst that comes of our situation with the landlords if they split on us?

If they do, we are kinda stuck with the lease and finding new subletters isn't really an option.

Does it make a difference that the apartment is a fucking unlivable nightmare?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6QOmUx8Idc

I think that is the very worst... You'll have to fulfill your contractual obligations ie paying the lease. That being said it sounds like how extreme the mouse situation might be violating health standards? Not to mention as the owners of

the property they are obligated to take care

of the mouse problem and other issues that make the property unlivable (broken water heated etc)... You have to show your due diligence with communications of the problem ie mice and shit, that shifts the onus onto them, legally. Laws differ from place to place but generally the Owner, not

lessee or renter, is fully responsible to take care of things like this unless explicitly omitted in the lease or rent agreement...

At the very worst you will be responsible for the outstanding amount on the lease and their cost for finding a new tenant but honestly given the issues... Hard to say

yeah i would say for right now tough it out and start taking inventory of the situation as evidence (photos of the mouse/mouse turds, etc. etc.)...in case you may have to take the landlords to court. yeah, they should be (i dunno what the legal code is in your area) required to fit health codes....unless they can somehow prove that you or the other tenants are responsible for the infestation.

I dunno, I wish you luck man, I really do. Was in a horrible situation renting myself a year or so back.

does the landlord know that you´re subletting the place? In germany you need to make a subletting contract between you, the subletters and the landlord, otherwise the landlord can kick those people out of the apartment within 3 days, (happened to me last year..)

This is still according to german law, but the landlord has to pay for taking care of the mice. So maybe try to talk to the landlord and show him the place while they´re not around?

if you break your contract you basically lose your deposit. that's all I believe. Never done it myself. Sounds like you have grounds for breaking the contract too. fucking LA man this town sucks

  On 5/17/2012 at 1:47 AM, Benedict Cumberbatch said:

if you break your contract you basically lose your deposit. that's all I believe. Never done it myself. Sounds like you have grounds for breaking the contract too. fucking LA man this town sucks

Actually, the lease is in NYC. Hence the mice.

Ah. No mice in LA? We got a friendly rat who chews bamboo outside our place.

We had a mouse stop in and pay us a visit once. He must have scurried under the front door. We chased him out tho.

Another time, we fond a little lizard. I think it was either a gecko or an anole. He was really cute and friendly, so we picked him up in a cracker box and put him outside.

So far, I see no real comparison between California and NYC when it comes to pest issues. NYC is next level.

from what i understand about policies here, subletting the place without a formal agreement and without the landlords permissions already breaks the lease. the landlord does have an obligation to maintain health standards, which they obviously are not doing. you could get the health dept involved, but because of the subletting thing both parties are sort of in the wrong. maybe just talk with the landlord and they will work something out if they aren't pricks/slumlords.

Seeking legal advice on watmm?

better call saul.

yeah i know nothing (holds up his hands) but that is one of my favorite squarepusher tracks!

borrow some cats from a cat lady?

edit: in most leases, you are liable for the entire amount of the lease. so, 1 year's rent in your case. unless the landlord lets you work something else out, which is common. hence my suggestion to try other things.

  On 5/13/2012 at 7:02 PM, jefferoo said:

I was just curious if any of you have ever had to break an apartment lease before.

 

We are subletting a place to friends of ours, at the moment, and have been for a little over a year.

The week after we resigned the lease, the apartment became infested by mice.

Our friends have basically been living in a living nightmare, having to deal with mice and mouse shit everywhere ever since.

 

We are afraid our subletters might bounce. They are basically at their wits end. We don't really have a current-standing legal document with them, because never sent a makeshift lease renewal to them when we renewed our lease.

 

Anyway,

We are curious... What could be the worst that comes of our situation with the landlords if they split on us?

If they do, we are kinda stuck with the lease and finding new subletters isn't really an option.

Does it make a difference that the apartment is a fucking unlivable nightmare?

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6QOmUx8Idc

Ok I didn't read everything in this thread, but if the owners of the property are not maintaining the health standards of the apartment all you have to do is document it and then have copies of your written requests for them to take care of it and then you can legally break the lease after a certain period of time. Make sure to follow the proper steps, but documentation is usually enough to get them off their ass.

You will have to google the actual laws in your state to figure it out, but you can break a lease for something as simple as the owners not properly handling a water leak (mold is a health hazard).

Make sure to read your lease documents to make sure you don't have some weird situation where you are obligated to fix problems, but most likely that is not the case.

I live in Texas and have gotten the upperhand in these situations because lessee's did not follow their own lease contracts. I'm also a professional property title researcher so I have a little bit of experience in the legal world. The worst that can happen if you break your lease incorrectly is that it will negatively effect your credit score and possibly make it harder to lease property in the future. It is possible that your unpaid rent could go to collections if you don't follow proper procedure. You do need to make sure that you take the proper steps for subletting as most lease contracts have a clause that requires you do get approval to sublet. Also, there should be a clause in your lease that states the landlords are responsible for maintaining proper standards of living. If you want to email me your lease I'll be happy to read it and give you more advice.

You're lucky that they're not maintaining the property, should be easy to make a case against the owner. I once had to break a lease and ended up paying most of the remainder of the contract. It was a horrible 6 penny-pinching months and it almost destroyed my marriage.

  On 6/6/2012 at 10:43 PM, sweepstakes said:

I once had to break a lease and ended up paying most of the remainder of the contract.

you have to pay for the rent till the end of the lease? I thought you just lost your deposit?

Nope. It sucked.

  On 6/6/2012 at 11:05 PM, Benedict Cumberbatch said:

  On 6/6/2012 at 10:43 PM, sweepstakes said:

I once had to break a lease and ended up paying most of the remainder of the contract.

 

you have to pay for the rent till the end of the lease? I thought you just lost your deposit?

You are obligated to pay the entire balance of your rent. Some leases stipulate that you can pay a lease breaking fee and a certain amount of the rent, but those seem to be less popular in recent years.

Sad thing is, the original owners were great and they would have been fine with that. But the company that took over the complex is apparently run by asswipes. Which seems to be the norm now.

  On 6/6/2012 at 11:06 PM, AdieuErsatzEnnui said:

  On 6/6/2012 at 11:05 PM, Benedict Cumberbatch said:

  On 6/6/2012 at 10:43 PM, sweepstakes said:

I once had to break a lease and ended up paying most of the remainder of the contract.

 

you have to pay for the rent till the end of the lease? I thought you just lost your deposit?

 

You are obligated to pay the entire balance of your rent. Some leases stipulate that you can pay a lease breaking fee and a certain amount of the rent, but those seem to be less popular in recent years.

reading my lease now and it doesn't mention lease breaking fee. damn. we have a noise problem and it made me feel better when i thouhght we could walk away and lose our deposit worst case scenario. better get a sound meter