Broken Apt leases

I don't know how long ago this was for you but you may want to look up some legal advice. I have a friend who moved out with 6 months left on her lease. The apartment complex sued and won...because your lease is a contract...

Hi, like Morningstarr said we need a little more information from you as far as how long ago this was and
how long into the lease you were. You were under contract so seeking legal advice at this point may be beneficial to you. The courts these days are on the side of the landlords, and it also depends on how detailed your lease was. that's where legal counsel will come into play, they know the laws and will advise you accordingly.

Most leases are considered written contracts and are easily proven in a court of law. I would suggest you look up the land lord/tenant laws for Arizona to see what you can do about this. If their contract spelled everything out in plain english,you will probably be obligated to pay the contract that you breeched by moving out.

We moved there in March 2005 and then broke the lease in Feb 06. I belive we signed a 16 month lease. I guess there isn't much that we can do at this point.

Like stated above review Arizona's land lord/tenant laws to see if you can get any help in this matter.

I also have a broken rental agreement on my credit report that I just disputed its been about 5 years
I believe I'm beyond the sol for a law suit.

The reason we broke the lease is because we never received a renewal notice,for the second time for the 2 years that we lived ther and I believe they are suppose to give a 3 month notice for you to renew that way you have time to look for a new place if you don't renew and they have time too look for a new tenant.
In my case I was the one that asked them and then I get a letter stating I have 2 weeks to renew my lease and my rent has gone up x amount of dollars.
It seems that they do this on purpose so that your forced to stay and pay the increased rent.

I belive that they broke the contract when they failed to notify me within the required time to renew my lease.
So I'll sit and wait to see if I receives a response from my validation letter.

Sorry for the long post.

It will ultimately be up to landlord/tenant laws in your state.

I know IL has a nifty law that says if a tenant terminates the lease early, then the landlord can only sue to the extent that the unit remains vacant.
Maybe you have 8 months left on the lease at the time you break it, but if they get someone else to move in a month after you leave, then they can only sue for the one month it was actually vacant. (Those other 7 months they couldn't really claim they were injured by your breech of contract, because someone else was in there paying rent).

that would save the tenants a lot of money, but does not motivate the landlord to get anyone in sooner, huh. I guess if it was in a busy area where housing was in shortage, then you would end up paying minimal expense. I think this is a great protection for the landlord too.

Wow, that's a tough one--and it really depends on the laws of your state. In my state, once your lease runs out, you automatically go month-to-month, which means you can move out anytime, but they can also raise the rent at anytime. So it does pay to be on a lease and lock in. My advise would be to research your state laws to ensure the landlord is following them and base your decision accordingly.

I use to be an apartment manager when I lived in KS. Best thing to do is be familiar with the Landlord/Tenant Act in your state. For most states, they are very similar to each other. From my experience:

Landlord has to give 30-day written notice of intent to raise rent, even with a month to month lease.

No new lease signing, tenant automatically goes on month to month, but is still required to give a 30 day written notice of intent to vacate.

If in a agreed lease, if lease is broken by tenant, tenant can be held liable for the balance of rent (each month) left on the lease. If landlord re-rents apartment, ex-tenant would only be responsible for amount of rent that apartment/house/ etc was empty.

I had a right to enter residences with a 24 hour notice, and did not need the permission of the tenant, whether for inspection, maintenance,for exterminators, etc. Usually I gave the tenants a couple days notice, especially when the exterminator was going to come.

Tenant was responsible for any damage beyond normal wear and tear. If apt was cleaned when moved in, had to be cleaned when tenant left.

We always did a check in/check out sheet so that we were aware of all damages and cleanliness. I usually did this prior to anyone moving into apt. I gave tenant a copy of inspection and they had 2 weeks to find any additional damage that might have been missed. If nothing was noted, they they were responsible for all damages that were found upon check out.

If tenant did not pay the rent and they were in a lease, I did have the right to evict them.

I could take ex-tenant to court over back rent, damages, etc.

Best advice I can give is always be aware of what the act says, always do a thourough inspection of premises when moving in, including counting nail holes, etc. I mean write down everything that you find, from the littlest knick to the biggest hole, etc. Send a copy to the landlord and keep a copy for yourself. Even better yet, when you do the inspection, have the landlord come see what you found and both of you (landlord and tenant) sign the inspection papers.

Stay informed and make sure you read your lease all the way through and understand your rights and the landlord rights. Protects both of you.

Just a little insite from the other side (and I have been on both sides as a tenant and landlord)

Just like you said Landlord has to give 30 day notice to raise rent so in my case we did not receive notice until I went and asked about our renewal then they gave me two weeks. That was the second time they did that I didn't like the feeling of being held hostage by deceptive rental agents who want to keep their occupancy rate high while screwing other people.

We left and rented a house for less than what they were charging us and then they turn around and say we are responsible and ding my credit report.

Unfortunatly, they can do that. Check out the laws though. It might be something that you might be able to fight like in small claims court. It is kind of a sticky situation, and I know that doesn't sound fair, but a lot of times things will swing toward the landlord and sometimes it gets to be word against word. Where you are at now, make sure that what ever you do or what they say they are going to do, get it in writing and then you have documentation. Do everything you are suppose to do and keep proof of things.

Oh, did you receive any type of transmittal (statement of everything you were charged for)? They should have sent that to you within 30 days of you moving out. I know when I did mine, I broke down everything the tenant was charged for....example if there were 10 nail holes that were not there previously and they did not fill, I would put down 10 nails holes in L/R @ (whatever the charge was for nail holes), carpet cleaning, etc. If there was any past due rent, that would be listed along with any late fees, etc. Then at the end of the transmittal would be the subtotal, less the deposit and then amount due.

Every landlord does things a little differently, but you still should have gotten something.