Exit plan: Breaking lease
So my daughter is enrolled in the new school. That was fast and I appreciate that.
Now to the lease we are in. We are renting a house and I am liable for the lease until 09/2014. Sigh.
How can I break lease efficiently? I've scoured my lease and there's no early move out clause or anything. I never thought to look for one when signing. As a last resort, I could cite the abusive situation we have been in but business is business. I also LOVE my landlord and I am not happy about breaking lease early.
As it stands:
I have my bank account set up.
DD is enrolled at the new school. Ex is notified.
I set up my PO box today to change all my addresses.
I found a moving company. I don't really have the extra man power and some of my furniture could never be moved by myself.
So to reiterate, how do I break lease efficiently without bankrupting myself?
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I wonder if you should just
I wonder if you should just simply call and state the situation and say that you are afraid of getting behind and can you give them x amount notice and move. You would be surprised. If the landlord thinks they will have to go down the road of court to get their money it might be best for them to cut ties too.
I should think if you have a
I should think if you have a good relationship with your landlord that if you go to him and explain WHY you are looking to leave that he might be willing to work with you.
DH and I own a home that we rent out and while we do a month to month lease (to avoid these kind of situations) we are usually nice enough people that we are willing to let specific language in the lease slide under certain circumstances.
Glad that your exit plan is in motion and going smoothly otherwise!
I broke a lease once - I had
I broke a lease once - I had to move because I could no longer afford to live by myself and DH and I were buying a house (we weren't married yet). I up and moved out 6 months early and I wrote the landlord a nice letter and told them to keep the security deposit but that I would have defaulted on the rent eventually if I stayed anyway. They pursued me anyway and I ended up paying it off bit by bit. It was not pretty at all, but I had to cut my losses. This was an apartment complex though - maybe if you have a private landlord they may let you out with no penalties. Doesn't hurt to ask!
Twice I've had to break a
Twice I've had to break a lease. In both cases, there was a clause that I was only on the hook if the landlord didn't find another tenant.
The lease forbade subletting, so it was up to the landlord to find a suitable new tenant. And they had to make a reasonable effort. At the time, the rental market was good and I didn't have any problems.
In your case, go and talk to the landlord and see what options there are. Maybe he wants you to pay a small fee (like $150) to cover his costs for finding a new tenant early?
Call the landlord immediately
Call the landlord immediately and explain the situation. They may be willing to let you out of the lease. If they're really that nice, they will understand. They might just keep the security deposit. If you just leave, they can come after you and can win a judgement against you in court to hold you responsible for paying them the remainder of the rent for the lease period. Which, honestly, I would do if you just up and moved without saying anything to me. I've let tenants out of leases before when they've called and explained that they can't stay for a valid reason (job transfer out of area, lost job and can't afford rent, etc).
We moved early when we bought
We moved early when we bought our home. We told our landlord we would be moving out & he let us move. He searched for a new tenant & when he found them our lease was done. We gave him plenty of notice so somebody moved in 2 days after we moved out. I'd talk to him & see what you can do.
Is your soon to be ex SO on the lease too?
Talk to them and be honest.
Talk to them and be honest. It is all you can do. They might just let you go if you forfeit your deposit.
If a tenant explained the
If a tenant explained the situation and left the house in good condition, I would just keep the deposit and rent it out again. Talk to the landlord.
Mass thank you to all the
Mass thank you to all the responses. SO is on the lease as well and I believe he will be staying there. I know it's still considered breaking lease if one person leaves. Majority rules, I will be talking to my landlord directly. I'm hoping she will understand.
A lot of leases are set up so
A lot of leases are set up so that you are only liable for the time it spends empty. If you find someone else who wants to move in, you are off the hook.
I'm not sure if you live in an area people want to live in or if you are in a rural area.