Breaking lease/deposit question
We rented a house in Redmond with a 1 year lease and the lease stated that November is free if we stay.
The lease states that "$xxxx per month and except that such tenancy shall be terminable upon fifteen (30) days written notice served by either party"
There is no mention of any consequences should we terminate the lease early which we are now forced to do due to job loss and job offers in another state.
Also when we leased it, the landlord asked for a check for the first and last month's rent which we paid. In the lease it states that $xxxx for the first month and a security deposit (no amount specified) be paid when the lease is signed. Also the landlord said he would arrange to come and do a walkthrough and we would collectively sign and note any damage which he never did. There is no damage and if any occurs in the last month we will repair it.
We gave notice more than 30 days before the end of September that we would be leaving 2 months early. We feel that we have paid the last month's rent.
He is now threatening us and saying that we have to pay October if he does not rent it and he has advertised it for $200 more a month ?!?!? (and if anything it is probably overpriced.
Do we owe him any more money? If as he maintains the last month rent is security deposit, I'm almost certain we will have to fight him for it because he sells mortgages and we think he is money trouble.
The lease states that "$xxxx per month and except that such tenancy shall be terminable upon fifteen (30) days written notice served by either party"
There is no mention of any consequences should we terminate the lease early which we are now forced to do due to job loss and job offers in another state.
Also when we leased it, the landlord asked for a check for the first and last month's rent which we paid. In the lease it states that $xxxx for the first month and a security deposit (no amount specified) be paid when the lease is signed. Also the landlord said he would arrange to come and do a walkthrough and we would collectively sign and note any damage which he never did. There is no damage and if any occurs in the last month we will repair it.
We gave notice more than 30 days before the end of September that we would be leaving 2 months early. We feel that we have paid the last month's rent.
He is now threatening us and saying that we have to pay October if he does not rent it and he has advertised it for $200 more a month ?!?!? (and if anything it is probably overpriced.
Do we owe him any more money? If as he maintains the last month rent is security deposit, I'm almost certain we will have to fight him for it because he sells mortgages and we think he is money trouble.
Comments
1) The lease does not state a dollar amount for breaking the lease, and it gives you the privilege to break the lease with 30 days notice. You are in keeping with those terms and he cannot charge you any additional months.
2) The deposit may or may not be a problem. I really don't know what it means if he doesn't specify the amount, but here's what I can tell you. If it is called a deposit on the lease, then he is legally obligated to either return the money or provide an itemized report of why he is not returning it. So you'll probably still have to pay last months rent, but if the place is in good shape, you should get your deposit back. Here's a link.
I recommend doing two things. First, take a lot of photographs of the property after you move out. Photograph everything. If you have photographs from before you entered the property, keep those too. Then cross your fingers that your landlord takes more than 14 days to send you an itemized report. If he does that, you get it all back. If he doesn't, he might be able to keep some of it. Do a walk-through with someone when you leave. If not the owner, then a neighbor. Have that person record what they see and sign it. This gives you a second opinion if you need it.
What it all comes down to is whether or not the landlord will be honest about damages or dishonest. It's likely you have made some small damages. For example, pin-holes in walls may need to be painted over. It's best if these kinds of charges are already contained in your lease, but if not these might be higher than you expect.
How long did you reside there?
But my uneducated 'laptop-lawyer' prediction is that you cannot be charged for additional months and cannot recover your deposit. Granted, I really don't have anything to back that up- just going from the gut
Good luck!
I second that motion.
What bothers us the most is the fact that he has posted it for 8.5% more than 10 months ago, with the idea that he is going to get money regardless.
Only one person has come to see it and they have seen 15 houses in the area in the last few days which seems to confirm our suspicions that the asking rent is likely too high and there are lots of houses for rent.
Unfortunately, those are things that would have to be fought in courts and we are not sure it is worth it for one months rent.....so, we are probably just going to keep it until the lease is up in Dec and then he can do whatever he wants.