I broke Lease!

By Tenant

 I signed a 12 month lease on June 1, 2009. I gave notice and am moving out Nov 12th. I did pay $1500 Security (one months lease) at the inception and I did pay the whole month of November.  My issue is that my Landlord is now putting up the house for sale and not advertising or entertaining a lease. What would my rights be as a tenant? If I am liable for the term of the lease doesn’t this seem wrong that they will not actively persue a tenant?  

At this rate: I paid Nov. in full
They will not consider a lease until Dec 15th or Jan.
Do I still owe for December???
 
Please let me know as I did recently file bankruptcy and was discharged Oct 2nd of this year…..  My husband is unemployed and I am too…. Is there a way out of this? I did ask for a termination agreeement with options and was told I owe the total lease thru May of 2010.

Kind regards,

Edited on: Thursday, May 12th, 2011 10:14 am

2 Responses to “I broke Lease!”

My response: (We welcome stories, examples, explanations, answers and a touch of your personality)
 

Landlord

November 11th, 2009 8:26 am

Although, I’m not in your specific state, it is usually required for a landlord to put some effort into finding a new tenant. Now, that doesn’t mean that the landlord is required to spend a lot of money advertising the unit, however, they should put some effort into it.
Think about it… Why would the landlord want to find another tenant when you are still paying it? Simple answer, they don’t care to find another tenant, and the effort they put into it will be extremely minimal.
In this case, I would tell you to market the unit yourself. Then, send qualified tenants to the actual landlord for screening. I would suggest using a free site like http://www.craigslist.com
You can also get the RPA to negotiate more fair terms for you. I’m not sure how you do that, but I know there’s a section where you can do RPA Mediation for a low rate– it might even be free?


anonymous

November 13th, 2009 12:34 am

Hi C. Esch,
You know you have right to file a complaint about your landlord not marketing the rental, especially if you are required to continue paying rent. As the landlord above mentioned, yes, you should also market it yourself; but I would take it a step further by legally documenting the problem. The RPA will mediate the case for you for a flat fee of $35… that’s a h@ll of a lot cheaper that paying rent for months on end. Just go file a complaint… here’s the link: http://www.rentalprotectionagency.com/complaint_center.php


Close


Yes, the RPA® Can Help You!

Filing an official complaint is the nation's fastest way to solve tenant problems.

Not Ready? Learn more...

Virginia Complaint Filling Deadline  Tips/Suggestion

Need Help Filing Your Complaint?

Agents Available Mon- Fri 10am to 10pm

Recently Resolved Complaints:

See how the Nation's Rental Authority has helped thousands of tenants already!

Ask Question:

Post a new question to the RPA Tenants rights forum.

You Have Tenant Rights.
Recently Posted Questions:

Over 4,000 questions have been asked by tenants including these new posts:

Tenant Rights Categories

Popular categories about renters rights.