I'm in the process of buying a house,should close on 5/29.
Which means 1st mortgage payment would be 7/1.
My current lease is through 10/01/09.
It is going to be impossible to make payments on both places,so I
contacted my landlord to see if I could cut the term short,and all I
got for an answer was "you will deal with my lawyer".So I asked if we
could come to some type of agreement that I could pay a reduced amount,
but atleast give him some money.Got the same answer.
According to the lease,he could sue for future rents and legal fees.
I plan on moving as soon as I close,no matter what.That is certain.
I just wanted to know if anyone has been in this situation,and how did
it turn out for you?Thanks.

Brian

 

Sublet? I talked to a lawyer about this a few years ago, and he said just leave it in ready to rent condition, and take pictures. Not much they could do. May be worth a call to a FL lawyer...

 

Technically they can go after you for the rent you owe on the rest of your lease if they don't sign a new lease before yours is up. All the lawyer talk might be just that, talk, give him a few days to cool off and try again. If not good luck getting any deposit back and DEFINITELY take lots of pics to show condition upon move out. That way at least your deposit could at least cover a little of it and they can't try to screw you out of it. I had a similar situation and it ended up going to a small claims court over 3 weeks rent, crazy landlord tried to screw us big time. Thank God my roommate was super **** and took a million pics, she ended up having to give us money back!

 

You have to look at if in the eyes of the landlord. The rental market is competitive, and he has to pay his mortgage too. If you are not in there, he cannot pay it. He also has to go through the trouble to find new tenants, and faces the possibility of having it empty for a few months, meaning the mortgage has to come from his pocket. There could are also tax concerns too. In Florida, if something is not rented to the same person for the whole year, the owner could face extra taxes. This is Florida's way to collect extra tourist cash. Have you heard of the occupant tax on hotels? It would have to be collected on any property unless a lease is in place. This is one reason a 1 year lease is common here.

A lease is an agreement that says you will pay on the house for the time stated, and they should very clear about terms. Does the lease state all of this in it? Have a lawyer read it over and see if this is the case. If so, you will be stuck for the full term.

You might be able to work with him though. If you could find someone to take the place over when you leave, the landlord might go for it. He is really concerned about keeping his income on it, and if someone is there to pick it up without a break, he just might agree to it. Just know that the lease might still have to be in your name until the end for the tax concerns.

 

Sad to say, but your stuck to the lease agreement that you signed. Read over the lease VERY carefully. Here is the statute about it:

From the Florida statute, Title VI, Chapter 83:

83.595 Choice of remedies upon breach by tenant.--

(1) If the tenant breaches the lease for the dwelling unit and the landlord has obtained a writ of possession, or the tenant has surrendered possession of the dwelling unit to the landlord, or the tenant has abandoned the dwelling unit, the landlord may:

(a) Treat the lease as terminated and retake possession for his or her own account, thereby terminating any further liability of the tenant; or

(b) Retake possession of the dwelling unit for the account of the tenant, holding the tenant liable for the difference between rental stipulated to be paid under the lease agreement and what, in good faith, the landlord is able to recover from a reletting; or

(c) Stand by and do nothing, holding the lessee liable for the rent as it comes due.

(2) If the landlord retakes possession of the dwelling unit for the account of the tenant, the landlord has a duty to exercise good faith in attempting to relet the premises, and any rentals received by the landlord as a result of the reletting shall be deducted from the balance of rent due from the tenant. For purposes of this section, "good faith in attempting to relet the premises" means that the landlord shall use at least the same efforts to relet the premises as were used in the initial rental or at least the same efforts as the landlord uses in attempting to lease other similar rental units but does not require the landlord to give a preference in leasing the premises over other vacant dwelling units that the landlord owns or has the responsibility to rent.

Subparagraphs (a) through (c) of Paragraph (1) give the landlord's various options. Sure enough, (c) says the landlord can sit back and do nothing, and collect your rent even though you are in it, or sue you for it.

Sorry to hear about the situation and good luck.

 

Oh, and congrats on the new house!!!!!!!!!!! Owning a home is a great idea in my opinion. I own a few properties. It is so much better than renting, unless stuff starts to break. (That part sucks)

 

Congrat's Bryan! I got out of my previous lease (owner actually was an attorney) by finding a renter for the place I was occupying. The owner of the house I was renting had no problems with it, whatsoever. You might approach your landlord and see if he would bite if you find a renter to move in and you would pay the few days rent between them moving in after you move out.

Hope it works out for you and good seeing you around here.

 

Many landlords offer leases with provisions for fees to be paid in order to break the lease.

For example, when I rented, I once renewed a one year lease, and then six months later, closed a deal on my home... In my lease contract, there was a clause that specified I would pay an "early lease termination" penalty if I broke off... That was part of the contract. The penalty was pretty much one extra month's rent. I imagine that my landlord would then use that money for back up while he spent a month finding a new renter, inspecting the place, etc... I actually thought many if not most of the lease agreements around nowadays had this built in... In Kendall, Miami, FL, many are this way and thank God for that otherwise no one would rent from landlord A if they could go to landlord B and have a better, safer contract for these types of situations.

 

Thanks for all the replies guys.I really hate putting the landlord through
this.I do understand his side and I have tried put myself in his place.
I have spoke with my realtor about listing the place for rent and will put
a sign out front in hopes of finding someone to take over. I still have to
face the fact that I might not find a replacement,and find myself in
a legal **** pile.I hope we can work something out.
Thanks for the advice,and support.

Brian

 

im pretty sure its fl law if you give them 60 days notice then you can break the lease penalty free. sucks your not in the military i just broke my lease i told tem i was moving in two weeks here are some orders and they cant do **** about it! but check on the 60 days thing it would be better to pay them for 2 more months instead of 5

 

You ever get things ironed out Brian? Hope all is going well with you.

 

Hey Jack.Man it is good to see ya back around these parts.
I have listed the place for rent with a realtor and put up a sign.
I will make every effort to do this right.I can only wait and hope.
Supposed to close on the 29th,but the way this rollercoaster ride
has been,I wont take a breath untill my SS is parked in my new garage
I'll keep everyone posted.

Brian

 

That's the way you are Brian. You do people right and you're kind to others. Things will work out in the strangest ways for you ... as they always do for good people. Just keep the faith brother. It will happen.