WHO HERE Has Walked Out On An Apartment Lease...What Is The Worst That Could Happen??
 

Due to personal reasons, I am looking to get out of my apartment lease. Unfortunatly they want 5K upfront and a 60 day notice to do so. What is the worst that will happen if I give them the keys and say I'm out, have a nice day...? Collections, credit marks, etc...I already have a house I am moving into and am not worried about the reference. The apartment is in Florida.

any opinions or experience appreciated

:thumbsup

a default judgement is what they're going to get. And that will be on your credit report.

But if you have nice cash flow, poor credit won't hurt you as much.

bad credit

I have a 700 score right now, how bad will it hit it

That normally won't make it to your credit report unless they go to the trouble of filing a lawsuit and win a judgment. Judgments don't always get on there either.

The best thing you can do is find a tenant for them.

As a landlord (not in FL) I can tell you what would end up happening if you did it to myself.
1. You would get served in either small claims or superior court depending on how long of a lease you are walking out on.
2. Odds are you will not appear so I would get a default judgement on the full amount even if I did not do much to medigate damages. Which by the way are easy enough to come up with reasons why you could not.
3. Place you into collections.
4. Set you up with garnishments and liens on everything from property, cars, to tax returns.
5. Report you to every major credit agency until I have gotten the full amount recovered. Yes I would re-submit them right before they rolled off.

Basicly make your life a finacial hell if it was due to personal reasons as you said and no fault of the property.

if you don't pay you'll probably get a lein put on your house (if you're buying), if you try to sell it you'll have to pay them first

if you're still renting, I guess you'll get annoyed by collectors and have shitty credit

house is already paid for, its a really large reality company that owns the complex. My cars are paid off and no other major loans out

Depends, I was a property manager for years. One company just kept the deposit and the other filed suit. If you are worried about your credit rating, pay the money and check into the little clause in most leases that state they actively have to lease out your apartment.

Have a friend shop for an apartment at the complex and if the leasing agent doesn?t show your apartment, you have a pretty good chance of getting a full refund within 60 days if a lawyer writes the letter.

I really don?t know Florida tenant laws :upsidedow

Ouch. :pimp

Try to negotiate? Like someone stated find another tenant?

Chargin 5k? dunno, to break my lease it costs me 170.00, with proper notice, but my apartment does not cost alot..

you walk out, your liable for the whole debt and interest if you let it go and go and they can put a lein on your house when they find out you have one. talk to a laywer im sure it wouldnt cost more than 1k with the lawyer fee.

they want 60 days notice, (1280 per month x 2) plus a 2 month penalty, (1280 x 2) = 5K

yeah, $5000 is a lot for an apartment...jesus

most I ever got charged was 1 months rent + deposit

Any chance of finding some code infractions at the apt. complex? You received renter's deed-restrictions/code when you moved in, I'm sure. Find whatever you can that breaks the code, note the items, and photograph them. Submit a professional write up of the infractions (including which paragraphs of the deed they have broken) and a cover letter stating that due to the apartment complex's inability to provide the living conditions stated in the deed and therefore breaking the lease agreement, you do not feel safe and need to seek new housing.

I'm not an attorney, and I don't know your specific situation, but lease infractions on the part of the property owner/management group got us out of a lease... complete w/ full security deposit refund. Of course, you really need to be thorough, organized, and professional when you compile and submit your complaint statement.

If the apartment complex is within code, you might just want to approach the person in charge on a one-to-one basis and explain your situation. Who knows, they might actually work with you. Definitely beats getting your credit rating messed up... even if you don't need it now, you don't know when you might so why risk it?

Good luck!

As a land lord, I can tell you that just because "everything is paid off" doesn't mean sh*t. After I get the judgement against you, (btw, it lasts for ten years, then I can renew it) I would go after your job, garnish wages, or just find your bank account and pull the money out. And yes, as a landlord I have done this.

I would try to mitigate the damages by trying to rent out he unit as fast as possible. And as soon as it is rented I would know what my actual damages are. that is what I would go after you for.

If that is ok with you, leave the property.

They're probably glad you're leaving. They'll get to raise the rent for the next tenant, haha. My old place did that.

Was that a lease or a month to month?

Purpose of a lease is so you the renter can secure the place at a set price for a given period of time. You legally assure the rentor that you will use up that amount of time.
The rentor on the otherhand looses the ability to raise the rents when they want, have a harder time evicting you, and are taking on more resposibility legal wise.
You lease for 1 year, at 1000.00 a month. Walk out for non property reasons at month 6. You are now on the hook for 6000.00. The rentor does have the resposibility to reasonable attempt to lower their damages (keep in mind there are plenty or legal ways to show why you could not). Such as lease out the space for the same or even less money than what they were charging you. So technically someone could lease it at 500.00 a month leaving you on the hook only for 3000.00
Now a rentor can take X amount of reasonable days to make the place lease ready (typically 30 days after you leave with all belongings). Then another 30 to 60 days interviewing prospects (assuming the meet the given criteria he desires). Up to another 30 days or more for the new person to sign and move in and so on.

:thumbsup .. ..

the lease has 10 months left at 1280 per/mo... It is a very large reality company, there are hundreds of appartments in this "community" on 70+ acres. It is a fully gated upscale community, not just a little 1 building mom+pop place. I am going in tomorrow to tell them that I'm not going to shell out 5K on the spot...offer to pay over the 4 month period.

If all else fails, I'll give them a business card and tell them I make porn for a living :upsidedow

I don't know about Florida law but here they have to actively try to find another tenant and you are liable for the rent until they do so up until your lease is over.
Another problem you will face by doing this is they will find every little thing possible (damage, cleaning) to add to the amount owed.

Also KRL mentioned they have to get a judgement before it goes on your credit. Unless Florida has a specific law about this I don't believe this is true. I have placed unpaid money owed from past tenants on their credit report without a judgement and credit card companies routinely place negative info on credit reports without judgements. But maybe Florida is different.

Can I sub-lease it or do they need to approve the rentors? They did all kinds of checks on me when I applied - credit, background, criminal, the works...

Hit up Craigslist and find a tenant for them. At least they won't feel like you're screwing them over. Best way is to invite them over and talk about it. Depending on your contract, you may also be able to sublease it to someone. If so, you might want to ask for a lower amount if you're so desperate to at least not lose too much money over this.

Not in FL you would....

Sub-letting is ussually not allowed except in a few given states, or if it is mentioned in the lease. More often than not this is a no go. Read over your lease to make sure it says you can or can not.
Also check this page: http://www.pirg.org/floridapirg/cons...rs/rrpage7.htm
Assuming your lease is in Florida.

I just broke my lease when I bought a house.

I'm not sure if the owner is going to chase me for damages but the lease has errors on it so that might work in my favor.

It says the lease starts on Oct 1 2004 and ends on July 1 2005....that's 10 months...WTF?
Then is says in print (not hand written) that I pay $625 per month for a total lease payment of $7500. (That's 12 months)

On my office lease they were totally cool, no problems whatsoever, she said "good luck with the house"

Some people (like the landlords posting in this thread) are just total dicks.

Wow, kind-of anal. If CA is not part of the U.S anymore, please correct me. The seven year credit law stills applies. Yes, you can re-age it every three years (or depending on the laws in your state). I doubt in any state you can re-age a collection after 10 years.

Funny thing is that the poster is might taking a risk to screw up his credit and the landlord can mess up his credit rating for breaking a lease but most creditors ignore or accept proof of payment (cancelled checks paid on time in the dwelling) and disregard any liens to Landlords :)

This place is really "corporate" - the office has 10 or so reps in it that handle the leases. I don't know, this is why I hate leases.

I appreciate all of the input, guess I won't know until I go in tomorrow.

:disgust

Why are we dicks? It is our property, and our money people are fucking with. If someone does not want the lock in of a lease rent a place on a month to month. Just do not sign the lease if you can not do the time.
Yes I have often negotiated with renters before if they were helpfull and polite about it. Ussually then we both can come to a reasonable deal. Though he asked in this thread what is the worst that could happen.

I did ask for the worst, so far I have got great answers. I just want to know what I am facing before I go charging in.

Check over that link I sent you if your lease is in florida. Go back a bit on the site as well. It covers nearly any question you may have as a leasor.

Wow...I guess I got off easy.
A couple weeks ago I found out i'm going to move (my grandmother is moving and I want to be near her) so I went and explained such to my landlord, and she simply put me on a month to month lease and told me to give her a 30 days notice.
No charges or anything.

Throw an eviction party, that's what we used to do in college. If you just bail, they'll send a collection agency after you for the full amount. The key is to get kicked out. It's not hard if you really try.

You break a lease, you pay the "ticket" ... pay the $5K and be done with it.

Your lack of willingness to pay the $5K (you own a lot of assets according to your posts, so it's not like you don't have the money) says a lot about your business ethics ... perhaps that doesn't matter to most folks here, but saving $5K now could cost you money later - I for one would be very hessistant dealing with someone who breaks agreements and simply walks away screwing the other party.

Sorry to hear about your personal situation, but that doesn't absolve you from making good on your lease, etc.

Do the right thing, especially since you have the money (at least in assets), and make good on the lease; pay the $5K ... if you have time, do what others have suggested and try to find another tenant - that will mitigate the damages saving both parties money and hassle.

Ron

They wont do shit I did this several times in the old days when I felt like moving.

in Wisconsin if you get transfered for work your landlord has to let you out of your lease. All it takes is a letter from the employer and a reasonable notice. I don't know if Florida has anything like it, but it's worth a check.

Nothing personal, but you are jumping to conclusions about me - not a great move. I am most likely in the top tier of "ethical" people in this industry. I come from a family business background, and am only in adult by default. I do have assets, and nice stuff that is paid for, but shelling out 5K is too big of a dent at the moment. I am in the middle of a few different deals and now moving is throwing a larger wrench into the mix. I simply want to know the worst case scenario of walking on my lease. I am not out to screw anyone, and if this was a small mom + pop apartment complex I would not even consider it. This is a mulit-million dollar company and I am just considering options if they tell me: go fuck yourself, pay us.

I tried to use "work" as a reason, (I will be helping my folks business out for a few weeks) but they said only military qualifies

I agree. Until I had rental property I always thought landlords were pricks for the most part. But after having rental property I now know why they are pricks. Try owning property and have some fuck move out in the middle of the night and trashing it. Try owning property and have people not pay the rent because they think you can afford it and they can't.

There have been very few times I havent been fucked over one way or another by a tenant, and I have always went out of my way to be a good landlord. I allowed one guy to use his damage deposit for a months rent because he had lost his job (BIG mistake), I ended up having to sue him for over $12,000 for all the damages he caused, then I had another who thought he was Mr landlord/tenant law expert and tried to see how long he could sit there before being evicted by not paying the rent. The nicer you are the more people think they can get away with shit. I don't fuck around anymore,
if they don't pay their rent by the 5th they get a 3 day notice. Excuses don't pay the rent nor do they pay my mortgage.

$5k they are having a laugh. I have always just had to give 2 months notice.

IMHO you signed a shitty lease.