Break an apartment lease

Hi everyone,

For those of you who rent an apartment...

I recently had an interview for a job in the Ft. Wayne, IN area. I haven't heard any good news yet. ;D I live just north of Cincinnati, Ohio, so if I were to get the job, we'd have to move quite a distance. We made the discovery from our apartment manager that job transfers do not qualify for early lease termination. Only military personnel can do so without penalties if they get stationed elsewhere or get deployed for combat duty. In our case (an out of state job transfer) we would owe the remaining months in our lease. Unfortunately we're not rich.

Now this seems ridiculous that I would have to decline this new job offer just because we'll be penalized for breaking our lease. Would be nice if the new employer could take care of our remaining lease balance, but I strongly doubt they'd do it. They do offer relocation reimbursement, however.

What do you guys think we should do? This new job would have to offer a higher pay in order to justify the move. Why move if I'm gonna be paid the same, right? Anyone been in a similar situation or had to break a lease for any reason? Are we just screwed? LOL

G

Have you tried consulting your landlord and seeing how he feels about it? Offer to help find new tenants maybe? Or perhaps offer some of the remaining amount to break the lease... some people can be reasonable if you approach them nicely.

I think you need to open up that lease agreement and read it for yourself. Don't take their word for it.

And regardless of what the lease states, would find out what the law is in your state pertaining to this matter. Even so, you would not owe the balance of all months still on the lease. You would only owe those months up to the time that it is rented again. And the owners are obligated to do their due diligence in renting it, not just letting it sit there.

Having managed an apartment complex in the past, I can say this: Definitely read your lease agreement. If you can't find it, ask your landlord for a copy. Regardless of what may be considered 'common sense,' if you signed it, you agreed to it.

Here are a few things to look for: Early termination penalties, and their requirements. Sub-lease clauses. If there is a clause that states you pay the rent until it's re-leased, then get out the digital camera, clean the place up, and make a flyer for it to stick up at the various public venues. Market the heck out of the place!

Also, how far along are you into this current lease term? If you'd JUST re-signed for a year, you may have more at stake than if you only have 4 months to go. After all, if you get the job, it's still going to take them another week or so to make their choice, and then you need to give 2 weeks or so, and then you'll need a month or two to relocate, so you may have that much at risk.

Sometimes if you let them know a month in advance and pay an extra month, they'll agree to that because that gives them plenty of time to re-rent the place.

Also, you'll have to check with the new employer if you're picked. I've moved a couple times on relocation packages and part of the deal was they would at least pay one penalty month of rent if I had to break a lease. I was in very low positions too.

What's the tenancy-vacancy rate in your location? In this case, the lower the better, and the smaller the risk the apartment would sit vacant more than a few days or a week.

Check the lease, and check your local laws. There should be a local town/city/county office that can help tell you what you are and are not obligated to do. Just because you signed a lease doesn't mean everything in it is legal.

GIYF. Google Is Your Friend. I Googled "cincinnati renters rights" and in a few minutes found my way to these gems:

http://cbyp.org/Guides/Tips/AptTennantRightsTip.aspx
http://www.ag.state.oh.us/
http://www.lascinti.org/

These might not be exactly what you need, but this should get you started.

Part of why you sign a lease is to guarantee to the leasor that you're going to be there for a specific amount of time. It also - usually - guarantees a fixed rent price that is typically lower than renting without a lease from month-to-month. It halts capricious moving by leasees (some might call it bargain hunting). What you're potentially doing isn't in that category. If you're leaving the area, you shouldn't be bound by rules restricting capricious local moving.

For your current situation, check your local legal resources to learn what you can and cannot do, and what your obligations are. Make sure the people with whom you communicate understand your situation.

For the future, when you sign a lease whether new or renewal, get them to include a lease breakage clause that minimizes your obligations if you are moving out of the area (>50mi) for a job. When we rented, we did that all the time. Usually it means you might pay up to 2 months rent to break a lease, but that can be worth it. Also, when your lease is up, if you think you might be moving out of the area soon, either get a shorter lease or rent month-to-month.

UPDATE:

You also want to get them to include a lease breakage clause for the purchase of a residence - condo, townhouse, house. While it's less important to get this type of clause if you're not inclined to purchase a home, if you're expecting to be purchasing one within a couple years, protect yourself with this type of clause. Again this is something we did.

Good luck. You are your best advocate, so act accordingly!

Thanks for all your input guys!

To answer some questions:
Our current lease expires Aug 31, 2008. I do have a copy of the lease and it does state that military personnel only can break a lease without penalties. I'll check with local laws and see what they say, as some of you suggested.
Perry: If I do get hired on, I figured it would take at least a month to locate a home to rent/buy (we'd like to finally get out of apartments), give 2 weeks notice to employer, pack our things and go. By the time we move out, there may be 2 or 3 months rent left we'd have to pay. I suppose we could talk to the manager and see if they can write it off. We're good tenants: pay rent on time, never file complaints.
Mathogre: The thing about the lease breakage clause makes sense, however, tbh, if I were to look for new jobs, I would have kept them local. We do intend to rent/buy a house soon, but we would do so by the time our lease was up. My mom happened to find that ad in the paper and told me about it. Ft Wayne? Oh well, let's give it a shot. Without looking at the lease, we assumed (an obvious mistake) that an out of state job transfer would allow us to break the lease without penalties. I guess I'll just have to wait on that call and go from there.

Another thing to consider: would a fairly large company (600+ employees) be willing to pay relocation expenses (which they do offer) for someone out of state over someone else who may have to relocate a much shorter distance?

Thanks again for all your help!
G

Another thing to consider: would a fairly large company (600+ employees) be willing to pay relocation expenses (which they do offer) for someone out of state over someone else who may have to relocate a much shorter distance?

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A good possibility. I'm pretty sure it would be a tax write-off at the very least. Start saving expense receipts.

Here in Florida, breaking the lease would cost an extra month's rent (or 2) and loss of security deposit. I've had to deal with it a couple times. But as usual, it will depend on the lease.
Good Luck to you!

So far I went through Lease Breakage twice. First in New Jersey, and there I lost my Security deposit only and I had to pay nothing else (keep in mind Security deposit was 1.5 months) And that was after staying there for 3 months only out of a yearly contract.

Second time was in Wilmington, NC. The terms in the contract stated that I had to pay 2 months as a penalty (Security deposit was only $200).

In general it should be stated somewhere in the lease what are the penalties to be expected for early termination.

Both times I was in the same situation as yourself. I transfered from one place to another and so on...

Good Luck.

Soulwar said:

A good possibility. I'm pretty sure it would be a tax write-off at the very least. Start saving expense receipts.

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Oh and here's my receipt for a fully loaded 24" iMac and a 160gb iPod Classic. They, uh, both got damaged during transit. Yeah, that's it! LOL

gary61071 said:

Oh and here's my receipt for a fully loaded 24" iMac and a 160gb iPod Classic. They, uh, both got damaged during transit. Yeah, that's it! LOL

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And can you believe the "movers" ran over your iPhone too!?!