tenent/landlord

[platermanusa]

On 2/2/02 there was a fire in my third floor appartment. Located in New Albany, Indiana. I was no more than 15 minutes away from leaving for St. Louis to watch the Super bowl with friends. On the drive to St. Louis I decided I was not living on the third floor any longer. My lease ended at the end of March. In the lease it says that you must give a 60 day written notice to vacate pemises. So I was already inside the 60 day period when the fire happened. On my return from St. Louis (2/5/02) I informed them that I was out at the end of March. They said nothing about filling out a 60 day notice to vacate form at this time. I did say I would be interested in any first floor units they had available. They showed me a few. After looking around I decided to go elsewhere. When I informed them (at the end of Febuary) of this they hand me the above mentioned form. They informed me I was responsible for April rent. So I went to Small Claims Court to see if a Judge could nulify my obligations at the end of the lease. In the pre trial hearing I was informed that this case was being thrown out because I was not asking for any money. They also could not tell what I should do now because this case may very well come back, with them suing me for Aprils rent or me suing them for my secuity deposit. I thought the best thing for me to do at the time was to initiate this thing first so it didn't look like I was trying to skip out on them. What should I do now? And what about my security deposit?

 

[JETX]

In order to answer your question accurately, we would have to read your specific lease to see how the termination is handled. For example, your lease is for a specific time, and very probably has a conversion clause (converting to a month-to-month after expiration). The key here is does your lease automatically renew if you are 'on premise' after the expiration, or does your vacating the premises legally end the lease.

For example, you say that your lease was to end on March 31. That is the END. If you were to move out on or before the 31st, you would NORMALLY have no further obligation, since you did not 'holdover'. However, if you stayed even one day past the 31st, then you would be a 'holdover' and the lease conversion (month-to-month) would 'kick-in' and you would be required to comply with the contractual 60 day notice.

So, what EXACTLY does the lease say about leaving and/or expiration of the lease??


In the interim, lets look at some other parts of your post:
Q1) "On my return from St. Louis (2/5/02) I informed them that I was out at the end of March."
A1) How did you 'inform' them?? Was it in writing with proof of delivery to the owner or manager??

Q2) "They said nothing about filling out a 60 day notice to vacate form at this time."
A2) They didn't need to, it was already in the lease.

Q3) "When I informed them (at the end of Febuary) of this they hand me the above mentioned form. They informed me I was responsible for April rent."
A3) Again, how did you 'inform' them?? When they handed you the 'form', what did they say to your, "Sorry, this is NOT an extension of my current lease, therefore, a notice is NOT required."

Q4) "So I went to Small Claims Court to see if a Judge could nulify my obligations at the end of the lease. In the pre trial hearing I was informed that this case was being thrown out because I was not asking for any money."
A4) The court was correct.

Q5) "What should I do now?"
A5) Depends on what you have done... and where you are. For example, do they still have your deposit?? Did you give them written notice WITH your new address?? What rent did you pay??

Q6) "And what about my security deposit?"
A6) Answer depends on answers to the above.

In the meantime, you might want to read (and understand) the Missouri Landlord-Tenant law:
http://www.moga.state.mo.us/STATUTES/C441.HTM
http://www.moga.state.mo.us/STATUTES/C534.HTM
http://www.moga.state.mo.us/STATUTES/C535.HTM

 

[justathought]

Missouri l/t laws are useless to the poster. He's in Indiana... the Super Bowl party was in St. Louis.

Do you have Indiana l/t laws handy?

 

[JETX]

Good point!!

And I need to get another roadmap!!

Indiana:
http://www.IN.gov/legislative/ic/code/title32/ar7/