Breaking Lease and My Apartment Was Re-Rented

[mtb324]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MASS
Hi, my wife and I broke an apartment lease when I lost my job. Now the apartment complex has sent the matter to a collection agency. They are claiming we owe about $4000 as part of an early termination agreement. However, one of office workers mentioned off-handedly my wife that they had found a new tenant for January 1. Do we still need to pay them the $4000 (a months rent plus the early termination agreement) if they have found a new tenant? I feel like I read somewhere that if they find a new tenant it changes the situation. Also, might be worth mentioning, I am not sure how we would prove they have a new tenant.
Thanks!

 

[FarmerJ]

did they ask you to sign a termination agreement where you paid to them one months rent as a penalty to end the lease early and maybe some other fees in there too (and if so what were those fees to be for) ?

 

[mtb324]

I Dont Think So

did they ask you to sign a termination agreement where you paid to them one months rent as a penalty to end the lease early and maybe some other fees in there too (and if so what were those fees to be for) ?

We didn't sign anything new. There is some kind of termination agreement in the lease I guess and we did say through email we would move out in January (two months after we let them know).
But no, we didn't sign anything new.

 

[Gail in Georgia]

Many leases will have a termination clause that allows a tenant to "break" a lease without the risk of being sued later over this matter. This typically involves a certain amount of notice being provided PLUS a month or two of rent.

Sounds like your lease had this provision; you gave the notice but didn't pay the required amount of rent to complete the clause.

Gail

 

[mtb324]

Didn't Sign

I think that is right but we never signed anything relating to this clause? I guess my question is, if an apartment is rented to a new tenant do we have to pay as well? I thought that was referred to as "double dipping"? Would the termination clause supercede that? Especially if we did not sign anything related to the termination clause?

Many leases will have a termination clause that allows a tenant to "break" a lease without the risk of being sued later over this matter. This typically involves a certain amount of notice being provided PLUS a month or two of rent.

Sounds like your lease had this provision; you gave the notice but didn't pay the required amount of rent to complete the clause.

Gail

 

[Gail in Georgia]

"I think that is right but we never signed anything relating to this clause?"

Are you saying you never had a signed lease during this tenancy?

Gail

 

[mtb324]

Lease

Yes we signed a lease. So if the lease includes this clause in the lease then it doesn't matter if they rerented the unit?

"I think that is right but we never signed anything relating to this clause?"

Are you saying you never had a signed lease during this tenancy?

Gail

 

[justalayman]

You're playing games. If you signed a lease and there was a termination clause in the lease that allowed for a payment of some amount which would allow you to terminate the lease, then as long as the lease was followed, you've no reason to complain.

 

[eerelations]

Agree. You either signed a lease that contained this clause or you didn't sign a lease that contained this clause. One minute you say you did, the next minute you say you didn't. The answer to the question Does the fact they re-rented the apartment make any difference? can't be determined until you come clean about whether or not you signed you signed a lease that contained this clause. So please, tell us truthfully what you did.

 

[LdiJ]

I guess that MY question in this situation is does MA state law allow a landlord to collect a termination fee of several thousand dollars if they had no gap in rental income? Lease or not, some states would not permit that. The states that would not permit that would only allow them to collect actual expenses.

 

[justalayman]

I guess that MY question in this situation is does MA state law allow a landlord to collect a termination fee of several thousand dollars if they had no gap in rental income? Lease or not, some states would not permit that. The states that would not permit that would only allow them to collect actual expenses.

Given the op's refusal to explain anything really I'm not going to get into this too much. Since the op has not provided any real details of the lease or the particular dates involved, one cannot determine much of anything.

To the basic question; a clause allowing early termination for a fee is not unlawful. There is no statutory requirement to mitigate damages although most courts will enforce a common law obligation. There appears to be no limitation on the amount charged.

Whether the op might have some viable argument against the fees would be based on the specifics of the situation and since op hasn't been very forthcoming...well...