Breaking A Lease

[Prototype]

My lease is up at the end of April, but I went looking last night with some perspective roommates, and we found a kick ass house, but it may only be available April 1st.

My question is, has anyone ever broken their lease, and what is the deal with damage deposits and such? I heard a rumour that if you break your lease, you lose the damage deposit, but if they rent out the appartment right away, you get your deposit back.

I currently pay $599 a month, and I have a $400 damage deposit. The new place is $700 split between 3 (about $235 each), and a $700 damage deposit (again, $235).

If I ditch out, and lose my damage deposit, I save just over $100, but there's just the idea of technically losing $400 that doesn't sit well with me. Just trying to see if it's worthwhile to get out and get into this place sooner.

[Prototype]

Originally posted by fotze@Mar 23 2005, 11:03 AM
I did it in med hat once. The landlord has to make a reasonable attempt to recoup the losses, i.e. rent out the place. So you are right. But I find most landlords feel that dd is theirs from day one and will try to hold on to it no matter what.

How much notice did you give, and did you get your DD back?

[photon]

I think you should talk to your landlord and see what you can do.

The security deposit usually shouldn't be used to cover things like this if a tenant does abandon the property then yeah the landlord can and will retain the security deposit to cover the rent. Of course this doesn't help if the security deposit is required to do any repairs as well.

You are responsible for the full $599 for the month of April so you should pay it. Since you are planning on leaving early and that may work to the landlord's advantage you should talk to them and see if you can get a reduced rate for that month. You aren't living there so utilities will be reduced. Maybe they were planning to go in and do some work after you left; this gives them a chance to do it sooner.

However it is VERY short notice though so they might not be able to do anything.

If they don't let you out, it's only $200 difference between being a man and honouring your contract and abandoning it. Do the right thing, you're going to be ahead in the long run anyway.

EDIT: That's true, if the landlord makes a reasonable attempt to rent out the property and can't, he can even go so far as to take you to court to get the money. I doubt he would in your case because it's only $200 (assuming there's nothing to be repaired with the security deposit). But he's not getting much time to rent for April so he'd have a good case. And if there ARE things that need to be repaired, then he might just do it, and that's not something you'd want to go through just to save $200.

[Prototype]

Originally posted by photon@Mar 23 2005, 11:12 AM
If they don't let you out, it's only $200 difference between being a man and honouring your contract and abandoning it.

Wow, you had me until the above. I understand everything else you say, and I have worked out something with the other two guys that if worse comes to worse, I will move in mid-end of April, which would be the one month. But you don't know me, or my situation, so please don't think that I am less a man for wanting a better situation for myself.

[Reaper]

Originally posted by Prottotype+Mar 23 2005, 11:34 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Prottotype @ Mar 23 2005, 11:34 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-photon@Mar 23 2005, 11:12 AM
If they don't let you out, it's only $200 difference between being a man and honouring your contract and abandoning it.

Wow, you had me until the above. I understand everything else you say, and I have worked out something with the other two guys that if worse comes to worse, I will move in mid-end of April, which would be the one month. But you don't know me, or my situation, so please don't think that I am less a man for wanting a better situation for myself. [/b][/quote]
It's not that wanting a better situation for yourself makes you less of a man.

The thing he's referring to that would be dishonourable would be to welch on your lease.

Honouring your committments and keeping your word are the biggest things that seperate the men from the boys.

When it comes right down to it, the only thing we really have as a measure of ourselves is whether or not our word means anything.

[photon]

There's nothing wrong with wanting a better situation for one's self. And I don't know your whole situation so I'm not judging you (you could be moving to be closer to your grandmother for all I know).

I, however, can and will think that the action of skipping out on a rental agreement just to save $200 demonstrates the kind of selfishness usually associated with children, while honouring an agreement and trying to work with the lease holders demonstrates the kind of integrity usually associated with maturity. Assuming the sole purpose of skipping out is to save $200.

[RougeUnderoos]

Depends on the landlord though as to whether you should honor the lease. I've had some real creeps and crooks as landlords. If he's treated you well then do the same. If he's a slackass lazy clown who made you wait two weeks before he fixed the shower or you know he's going to go for the throat, keep your DD and rent the place out then don't worry about skipping out.

In other words, if he's been a good landlord, be a good tenant. If he hasn't been, you don't owe him a thing.

[Incinerator]

Originally posted by RougeUnderoos@Mar 23 2005, 08:25 PM
Depends on the landlord though as to whether you should honor the lease. I've had some real creeps and crooks as landlords. If he's treated you well then do the same. If he's a slackass lazy clown who made you wait two weeks before he fixed the shower or you know he's going to go for the throat, keep your DD and rent the place out then don't worry about skipping out.

In other words, if he's been a good landlord, be a good tenant. If he hasn't been, you don't owe him a thing.

exactly, and buy a condo next time, $599 a month you're just throwing your money away, might as well put it into something that has a return one day.

[Prototype]

Originally posted by Incinerator+Mar 23 2005, 01:32 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Incinerator @ Mar 23 2005, 01:32 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-RougeUnderoos@Mar 23 2005, 08:25 PM
Depends on the landlord though as to whether you should honor the lease.# I've had some real creeps and crooks as landlords.# If he's treated you well then do the same.# If he's a slackass lazy clown who made you wait two weeks before he fixed the shower or you know he's going to go for the throat, keep your DD and rent the place out then don't worry about skipping out.

In other words, if he's been a good landlord, be a good tenant.# If he hasn't been, you don't owe him a thing.

exactly, and buy a condo next time, $599 a month you're just throwing your money away, might as well put it into something that has a return one day. [/b][/quote]
Well, it's Boardwalk Appartments, which I don't reccomend to anyone. They aren't as sketchy as some people's landlord stories, but as far as service goes... big thumbs down.

I which I could afford a down payment for a Condo. I actually just helped my fiance in Calgary get into a condo. She'll move in as soon as it's built, and I'll move in when I move back to the city.

As far as $200 goes, I'm not in a favourable situation as most that $200 isn't that big of a deal. I get two paycheques a month. One goes right into rent, the other, pretty much half goes into bills. Therefore $200 is a bigger deal to me than it is to you.

I have come to the realization based on the non-"be a man" talk that it's not gonna be worth the hassle of trying to break the lease. I'm going to pay my April rent, and look to moving into the new place mid month, that is if my roommates move in on the first. I will then being paying 2 rents, technically. So I'm really not saving any money at all. But I do intend to hold on to the keys to my old appartment until the end of the month. It will be mine and I will do with it as I please until the end of the month, as per my lease.

[JiriHrdina]

Proto - I was in a similar situation a few years ago. The way I handled it was I went to the landlord and said I was moving out right away and ideally didn't want to pay rent for a month that I was not going to be there. They said that if they found a tenant right away then it was all good but if not then I would have to pay. They found one so everything worked out perfectly.

My point is - it doesn't hurt to simply talk to your LL about it and explain the situation. Best case - you keep your $200, worst case you have to pay it. But in a city like Calgary where vacancy is low there is a good chance they could find a tenant right away.

[Prototype]

Originally posted by JiriHrdina@Mar 23 2005, 02:29 PM
But in a city like Calgary where vacancy is low there is a good chance they could find a tenant right away.

Curse is, I live in Red Deer. There have been Vacancies on my floor, and they've been filled right away. I may look into this, but I don't want it to be a drawn out hassle.

[Tron_fdc]

Or you could just put a stop payment on your next rent cheque, and when he gives you the 30 days notice of eviction live there for free until you move out....you lose your DD but you skipped a month of rent

Only an idea not a suggestion

[photon]

I agree, check with the landlord about it, the worst that can happen is you have the place till the end of April which you've prepared yourself for anyway.

Also, if you do move out and leave it empty, check the place every few days. Most rental agreements have clause in them that if a tenant is away for an extended period it has to be entered and checked by someone. I'd hate to see the landlord use that against you somehow (Insurance companies usually require this clause).

I had a landlady basically steal a $400 security deposit from me once, so I've had the crappy ones too I could have gone to court, I even did a search and found out that she'd been sued for this kind of thing maaany times (her m.o. I guess), but I couldn't afford the extra $ to file at the time.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally posted by photon@Mar 23 2005, 02:44 PM
I agree, check with the landlord about it, the worst that can happen is you have the place till the end of April which you've prepared yourself for anyway.

Also, if you do move out and leave it empty, check the place every few days. Most rental agreements have clause in them that if a tenant is away for an extended period it has to be entered and checked by someone. I'd hate to see the landlord use that against you somehow (Insurance companies usually require this clause).

I had a landlady basically steal a $400 security deposit from me once, so I've had the crappy ones too I could have gone to court, I even did a search and found out that she'd been sued for this kind of thing maaany times (her m.o. I guess), but I couldn't afford the extra $ to file at the time.

I've been scammed like that as well and even though it was years ago I still get angry just thinking about it.

One time a shifty-eyed oldtimer tried to scam me out of my DD. I had taken him on the walkthrough the day before the lease expired, cleaned the hell out of everything, no damage or anything and the guy says "that's great, see you later". I said "well what about my damage deposit" and he says "we require 31 days notice, not 30 like you gave us". I was going to choke him but I sort of kept it together and said "fine, you keep the $400, I'll keep the keys for one more night" and I gave him a big smile. The money was in hand a couple hours later. Other than that, I've been conned more than once. Landlords in quaint Lethbridge can be quite vicious when it comes to students.

[photon]

Lol, nice.

I can understand why some landlords become so terribly jaded though, I've seen it from the other side too. I have some properties now and I've had tenants disappear in the middle of the night leaving a property with tons of junk in the unit, and an oil slick in the middle of the carpet. Looked like he changed the oil on his bike in the living room. Took us a month to fix the place up.

Sometimes they aren't too smart though. They were gone, but the post-dated rent cheques they gave us weren't.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally posted by fotze@Mar 23 2005, 03:12 PM

Ohh I bet you almost regret getting the money, it would have been worth 400 bucks.

Yeah it would have been kind of fun. It was a really old duplex with hardwood floors and exposed plumbing in the bathroom. I could have done $400 worth of damage before he even got his car started and he knew it so he caved pretty fast.

One time in another place I thought I hit the jackpot when the woman who rented me the house forgot that "checklist" that you go through when you move in. Everytime something got damaged I'd just write in on the list as though it had always been there. Not much. Couple cigarette burns on the floor, a scratch on the wall. Nothing intentional. But this woman was a stickler and I knew she was going to try to rob me. Before I moved out I got a couple frantic calls about "I don't have the checklist I don't have the checklist you can't move out until I find that checklist". I don't think so lady. So she comes over and we go over the list. Not one thing damaged that wasn't on that list. She's a crook though so she starts making stuff up. She said "there are no phonebooks in here, that is going to cost you $50 to replace the phonebooks." No exaggeration. In the end the old bat was going to argue all night if she didn't get at least a cut of that damage deposit so she says "it's an unwritten rule on our leases that you have to pay for the carpets to be steamed, so that's $150". I can give you $550 today (it was $700). We took it. That old hag was going to her deathbed with something. We had argued for like 2 hours.

Holy thread hijack about my boring stories of crooked Lethbridge landlords.

[Tron_fdc]

Yeah, if you take into account that the landlord is totally going to try and screw you out of at least a portion of the DD it kind of changes your perspective on it a little. I've spent hours scrubbing stoves, cleaning behind fridges and ovens, steam cleaning carpets, then getting fataed out of my DD because I didn't steam clean the drapes and defrost the icebox.

The last place I rented was from a real hag who was a BYATCH with the checklist, and I knew I was going to break the lease and lose my DD, so of course I cleaned nothing, got a dog, put pictures all over the wall, and left junk in the place I didn't want. It wasn't all that bad, but it was my silent protest to all the slumlords operating in the city.

I've been shown apartments I was thinking about renting that were in complete shambles, when people obviously did the midnight move on the landlord and left tires, cutlery, garbage, condoms and christ knows what else in the place. The clincher was when the landlord said I couldn't go out on the balcony because the railing was missing or stolen (we were on the 8th floor downtown).

Man, I don't miss renting.

[Prototype]

Just to update, got approved for the new place. Roommates are moving in April 1. Depending on what my landlord says when I talk to them next, I'm looking at April 15th.

Thanks to everyone for all their help, and I'm enjoying the stories. I have a feeling I'm gonna get screwed outta something too... Thanks for the heads up.

[Hiding from the wife]

If you think you're going to get screwed, here's an option:

Instead of paying your rent, walk on April 1 and let the landlord keep the Damage deposit, thats if the landlord is being unreasonable of course and you save a few $$$ in the process. Although not ethical it is effective.

[Agamemnon]

Originally posted by photon@Mar 23 2005, 09:44 PM
I agree, check with the landlord about it, the worst that can happen is you have the place till the end of April which you've prepared yourself for anyway.

Also, if you do move out and leave it empty, check the place every few days. Most rental agreements have clause in them that if a tenant is away for an extended period it has to be entered and checked by someone. I'd hate to see the landlord use that against you somehow (Insurance companies usually require this clause).

I had a landlady basically steal a $400 security deposit from me once, so I've had the crappy ones too I could have gone to court, I even did a search and found out that she'd been sued for this kind of thing maaany times (her m.o. I guess), but I couldn't afford the extra $ to file at the time.

I've been in a similar situation myself, years ago. At that point, petty courts are not going to give you the satisfaction of ooohhh... sayyy... chewing up a couple of sticks of gum, and stuffing the gooey mass into the key-hole of their car/apartment.

Gum in the key-hole, there's an old trick, but man, did it work like a charm! And by work, I mean they had to buy a new lock. Not too hard w/ a regular door, but a car door? Hello locksmith bill

Not that I actually did this... you know, for legal purposes