Quitting a lease is not an easy affair. Leases are known to be legally binding contracts. Quitting an apartment lease and vacating a property before the lease expires could have grave repercussions. What can you do in case you are not able to come up with the required rent amount? You could go on skipping payments and dodging your landlord till you are able to arrange the cash for paying the rent. However, this is not a practical solution as some landlords would initiate the eviction process the moment they realize that pending time is over 15 days.
Under the circumstances you have very few options. You could quit your lease early or wait for being evicted. There are of course, some consequences of breaking a lease. However, there are also, ways of handling the situation diplomatically and avoiding any major financial or other penalties.
Consequences of Quitting a Lease Early:
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You could face civil lawsuits as your landlord could pursue legal action for recovering the pending rent payments
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A credit judgment is supposed to be an order for paying up a debt. After your case is heard, a judge may consider issuing a credit judgment against you.
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Renting another apartment or a new home could be extremely difficult after quitting a lease early.
Tips to Break a Lease without Any Serious Monetary or Other Repercussions:
You obviously wish to avoid a lawsuit and also, maintain a really good credit score. When any negative information is reported to your credit bureau, it would not be possible for you to buy a new house in the near future. So it is necessary to quit your lease early but without at all damaging your credit score.
Contract Appraisal is a Must:
Your contract states all the relevant details related to your legal obligations for staying in the property. While reviewing your lease you may find out that your lease is month-to-month implying you require notifying your landlord around 15 to 30 days in advance and only then you are free to move out. You may also, come across a legally obligatory contract for remaining in the property. You need to review your lease agreement to see the viability of breaking the lease early.
Examine If Any Violations On the Part of the Landlord:
Go through the lease agreement thoroughly. Check the stated responsibilities of your landlord properly. See if he has faltered in any way or if any of the stated responsibilities have in any way been violated. If yes you have the ground for quitting a lease early. It is however, essential for you to come up with adequate documentation proving the violations.
Be Fully Aware of Your Rights:
You should consider finding out the tenancy rights by browsing through your state’s website. The tenancy laws would state exactly how long lease contracts could be enforceable. You may come to realize that your lease contract is not at all enforceable. You can identify other ways of quitting your lease for instance, a hardship provision in case you have lost your current job.
Be Willing to Sublet Your Present Leased Apartment:
You could consider subletting your lease to someone else. You would however, be under obligation to make sure that the rent is paid every month till your lease actually ends officially. You would be liable for any damages to the property.
Come Up With an Offer for a Lease Takeover:
If you cannot sublet legally, you could still let someone else stay in the apartment and pay the rent. This someone can take over existing lease. Basically, you are assuring the landlord of replacing the rental income at once. Most of the landlords would be eagerly accepting this offer as they are more worried about potential loss of income. This way you do not face any monetary penalties.
Author Bio: Cynthia Majors is a lease specialist involved in freelance consultancy services. She recommends www.leasequit.com for all your lease quitting solutions.