A reader asked a somewhat offbeat question a couple weeks ago that I think merits some futher discussion.
My husband and I are leaving the state for work in the midwest. In April we moved into a underpriced rental house and signed a lease until June 2011 thinking that if we leave the owner would easily be able to find another renter to replace us.
The house been listed for rent for a week and shown once. The couple wanted it and filled out application, but they did not pass the screening. I looked at craigslist in hopes of finding a listing the landlord had placed for our home, but instead of finding our home, I saw a list of houses for rent in Bellevue that was 3 pages long… I could not believe it, we had been looking at the market for the past 3 years and it was tight.
So now I’m worried the house may not rent. I’m thinking of how much will this cost me if I have to break the lease without finding a replacement renter. I’m wondering about my rights. I’m thinking that just how many will not pass a screening in our new economy. I’d appreciate hearing some thoughts on this.
Unfortunately if you’ve signed a lease, you probably don’t have any rights other than those that are explicitly granted by the terms of the lease. This usually means that if you want to move out before the lease is up, you have to pay a fee (probably equivilent to 1-3 months rent) to the landlord.
The laws about rental leases are fairly specific about what can and can’t be required of a renter and of a landlord, so if you think the terms of the lease are unfair to the point that it may not be legal, it wouldn’t hurt to have a lawyer look over your lease to see whether or not it is actually enforcable.
If you’re intent on finding a renter to replace you, and there isn’t enough interest at the current price, you may want to see if the landlord is amenible to dropping the price to reflect today’s market for the new renter and allowing you to pay the difference for the duration of your lease. If it would cost you $3,000 to break the lease, but you could find another renter at $200 a month less than the current price, you still come out on top paying an extra $200 a month for 8 months ($1,600) rather than a lump sum of $3,000.
Seattle Bubble readers are a creative bunch, so I bet there are some other possible solutions I’m not thinking of that someone else will bring up the comments. So, let’s hear it. What would you do if you found yourself in this situation?