So I will be moving out of the country in March. It would be one month before my apartment lease ends (April). Why? Because I misunderstood my lease length as ending one month earlier than it does... So I bought my non-refundable flight ticket one month too early. I have the choice of either paying for the last month myself while I'm not living here, or finding someone else to rent. I thought a one month lease wasn't exactly attractive, so I decided I should move out a little sooner to entice someone with a longer lease. I gave the building manager my notice that I will be moving out before the end of January.
I was planning on moving in with a couple friends of mine for the next two months because they have a spare room for rent. I've told them that I will be moving in.
I'm moving in for February. I haven't found someone else to take my lease. I now have to pay for rent for both places. Fuck me.
There are certain extenuating situations which allow you to break your lease without penalty, which includes loss of job or relocation as a result of job demands (usually). It's going to depend on your lease itself and local lease laws, but have you looked into whether you might be protected under such a clause? Don't move in with your friends if you can't find someone to cover your lease. If you have a place to stay that you are obligated to pay for, even if it's not where you want to stay, it's silly and fiscally irresponsible to sign on to live somewhere else and thereby obligate yourself to pay 2 rents. You can either fuck over your friends, or yourself. I think you should not fuck over yourself.
Oh, thank you! My local laws dictate that I can break the lease if I'm relocating because of work, but it's up to the landlord to consent. I'll have to talk with them about it, I suppose.
I think the problem that you are getting yourself into is you decided you wanted to move into your friend's apartment for 2 months to try and make your sublease more attractive. I don't think the landlord has to agree to you breaking the lease 3 months early if you are not immediately relocating, but relocating 2 months down the road. I'd heartily encourage you to back out of the living arrangement with your friends, I think that would help alleviate the issues you are facing.
Yeah, that's certainly the problem. I feel terrible doing that to my friend's, though. And the company that owns the building doesn't know that I'm staying in the country for another two months. They just know that I will be moving out because of a job offer in another country.
I can only tell you what I did. The last apartment I rented was in the last century so take that for what it is worth. I contacted the landlord and explained the situation. I had 4 months left on the lease. I offered to pay to clean the place if they let me out early. As I was a good tenant who paid on time and did not cause trouble we worked out an amicable solution. That place was cleaner than I found it, and he was able to get someone into the apartment as I was walking out the door, and I got to keep the security deposit. If you have a good relationship with the apartment people, explain the deal. Ask what you can do. It's a month, not like you are bailing a month into the lease, I'm sure if the landlord is not a pure dick they can work with you.
I agree! So my mom is a landlord. She works with people who rent her month-to-month places and those who rent year-to-year. In the case where something comes up, and an honest mistake like this would probably qualify, my mom works with tenants. And she basically says, Look, if I can find someone to move in then, and I don't spend a month with an empty place and no renters, you're good to not have to pay some fee because you violated the lease. Now, I don't know if that's particularly common, especially with the larger, faceless property manager company people. But you have a month and a half before you move out? See if you could offer to help them find a replacement. And if that's something your landlord could abide by, ask your friends if they're interested in your cool place that's going on the market soon. Or even post to craigslist, and you could refer interested parties to your landlord. And you could also sublet. Don't underestimate people's desire to rent a place for only a little while. I had to do that while I was looking for a more permanent home in a city that I wasn't familiar with. I was able to live somewhere temporarily and scout around, so a month-to-month deal was what I looked for first. Best of luck!with the apartment people, explain the deal. Ask what you can do. It's a month, not like you are bailing a month into the lease, I'm sure if the landlord is not a pure dick they can work with you.
Unfortunately, according to my lease agreement, it's more so my responsibility to find a replacement for myself. I either sublet to someone or break the lease and pay an entire month's fee. If I don't find anyone, I'll have to pay whether I break the lease or not. I've been advertising online, but evidently, it's been unsuccessful. Thanks for the advice, though.
The building manager's kind, but it's really a faceless company who is in charge. According to my lease, I'm responsible for rent if I can't find someone else to sublet to. I'll try to talk to the manager about it, though. Thanks.
As a landlord, I've offered tenants the following deal to get out of leases early: 1) they sacrifice the remaining month's rent, the following month's rent, plus the security deposit, and get out scott-free immediately; OR, 2) I advertise for a new tenant immediately, and the current tenant continue paying rent up to the day the new tenant takes occupancy, at which point the remainder of that month is refunded on a pro-rated basis, they get back their security deposit, and are free of the lease. Both are entirely legal in my state. Option 1 is actually written into the standard state lease explicitly. Option 2 is if you have faith in me (the landlord) and the awesomeness of the property, and maybe like to gamble a bit. Honestly though with just one month to go, even if your landlord offered you my option 2, you might get back a week or two worth of money at the most. It was a long shot for you to find someone to rent for just one month in the first place. Even so-called 'short term' leases are padded. I'd just pay the month and never look back.