Termination of lease with buyout...need help dealing with with ruthless company!!!

What is the name of your state? Arkansas

Story is...signed lease in August 2003 for one year. One month after singing lease, becase very ill and had to move in with my mother b/c I was not able to take care of myself. After a couple months I realized that the move was going to be permanent due to lost wages and still being very ill. I gave my thirty day notice and started having my family move my things out. A couple weeks after my notice(written) had been given, my mother went to collect more of my things and to start cleaning the apartment only to be suprised that the landlords had turned off the water supply outside the apartment. So, she did not clean and just moved my things out. Then just two days ago I get a call from the landlord stating that I owe three month's worth of rent as the buyout fee for my lease. Now I had someone drive by and the apartment has a new tenant. There was never any mention of my deposit either. What are my rights? This company owns almost all of the local apartment complexes and come to find out have threatened just about everyone with this buyout cluase. Do they have the right to follow through even though I did give them proper notice and follow the guidelines of the lease upon move-out?

Please help!

[HomeGuru]

[quote]Originally posted by tinkrbel20
[b]What is the name of your state? Arkansas

Story is...signed lease in August 2003 for one year. One month after singing lease, becase very ill and had to move in with my mother b/c I was not able to take care of myself. After a couple months I realized that the move was going to be permanent due to lost wages and still being very ill. I gave my thirty day notice and started having my family move my things out. A couple weeks after my notice(written) had been given, my mother went to collect more of my things and to start cleaning the apartment only to be suprised that the landlords had turned off the water supply outside the apartment. So, she did not clean and just moved my things out. Then just two days ago I get a call from the landlord stating that I owe three month's worth of rent as the buyout fee for my lease. Now I had someone drive by and the apartment has a new tenant. There was never any mention of my deposit either. What are my rights? This company owns almost all of the local apartment complexes and come to find out have threatened just about everyone with this buyout cluase. Do they have the right to follow through even though I did give them proper notice and follow the guidelines of the lease upon move-out?

**A: what does your lease state? When did you move out and when was the place re-rented?

[JETX]

Also, there is NOTHING in your post about your actually surrendering the property.

When did you give them WRITTEN notice of your intent to move??
When did you finally 'move-out', or did you??
When did you return the keys??
What EXACTLY does the lease say about your obligations if you breach or terminate early??

To answer your questions...

I gave a written notice on December 1, 2003.
I moved out on December 16, 2003.
I returned the keys the same day as move out.

The lease says that if I give a thirty day notice and move out that I should get my deposit minus any cleaning fees back. Then it states that the buyout may or may not take place depending on managers discretion and if it did it would be the three months rent or half of the rest of the lease whichever was cheaper.

The apartment was re-rented sometime during the first week of Jan.

[JETX]

"The lease says that if I give a thirty day notice and move out that I should get my deposit minus any cleaning fees back."
*** Okay. That means at the END of your lease and does not mean that you can give the 30 day notice at anytime during the lease. Your moving out before the end of the lease is a breach of the lease agreement.

"Then it states that the buyout may or may not take place depending on managers discretion and if it did it would be the three months rent or half of the rest of the lease whichever was cheaper."
*** Presumably (and without seeing the actual lease) the provision for 3 months or 1/2 the lease is for 'liquidated damages'.
Clearly, you owe the 90 days then. The fact that the property was re-leased within the 90 days, does not waive your obligation to liquidated damages.

[HomeGuru]

[quote]Originally posted by tinkrbel20
[b]What is the name of your state? Arkansas

Do they have the right to follow through even though I did give them proper notice and follow the guidelines of the lease upon move-out?

**A: based on the updated information you provided, the answer to your question is a resounding yes.

I have seen this over and over and so many times that I just want to strangle the L's who have never bothered to choose their words more accurately and in a manner that causes much less confusion.

Ok, the amount charged is equal to the amount of 3X the monthly rent. IT IS NOT 3 MONTH'S RENT, NO RENT IS CHARGED! In TX, it is made a little more clear on the Lease Contract, but even professional Leasing Agents and Property Managers still do not understand how simple it is to explain!

Owners cannot charge double rent on an apartment. IF YOU PAID RENT, not an amount equal to the rent, for any one day or more and someone moved into the apartment during the time that rent had already been paid by another resident THEN you would be entitled to reimbursment in the amount that was collected for the day(s) that were previously paid by you.

In order for a notice to vacate to be considered approved (proper), it is not enough to submit the notice 30 days prior to the date of intended move-out. The only time that is the only stipulation is when you are required to submit a notice at least 30 days prior to the date you intend to move AND that date is the exact date the current terms of your Lease Contract expire.

I like to explain it like this...If your monthly rent is $500 per month, and you fail to fulfill all the terms of your Lease, you will be charged an early termination fee of $1500 (or 3 times the amount of your rent) This is an additional charge, and it does not apply to rent as it is an early termination/penalty charge. In addition, you are required to submit a written notice at least 30 days prior to the date you intend to vacate the premises. You will be charged for rent through those 30 days, and rent must be paid on time as per your Lease Contract or you will be charged Late Charges.

The Security Deposit will be applied to the balance, and you will receive a Security Deposit Disposition Statement within 30 days (Texas law, time limits vary from sate to state) provided you give us your forwarding address before you move out. IF YOU PAY THE RENT, ALL CLEANING, DAMAGES, AND REPAIR COSTS, PAY THE EARLY TERMINATION FEE AND YOU LEAVE OWING A ZERO BALANCE, THEN YOUR SECURITY DEPOSIT WILL BE REFUNDED TO YOU WITHIN 30 DAYS AFTER YOU MOVE OUT, provided we have your forwarding address.

Now, I always have to ask--What makes you think they owe you your deposit TWICE? It has already been "returned" in a sense when they applied it towards your balance! That is it, you only get the amount of the deposit credited to you once, and it was applied...therefore, you got your deposit back it just was not in the form of a check that was mailed to you and then mailed back to the owner...it was applied to YOUR ACCOUNT BALANCE.

[JETX]

Born, though your post was specifically about TEXAS, while the writer is in Arkansas, I do have a couple of comments to your post.

One is a suggestion, one a clarification and one a 'watchout' to your otherwise accurate post....

Suggestion:
"you will be charged an early termination fee of $1500 (or 3 times the amount of your rent)"
*** Rather than call this "an early termination fee", use the term "liquidated damages" and leave 'rent' out of the explanation. The court understands that term and it is in compliance with the Texas Property Code. The court may not understand your application of a FEE and decide it is arbitrary and capricious.

Clarification:
"provided you give us your forwarding address before you move out."
*** Texas law is a little different on this. The 'forwarding address' must be given in writing and does NOT require it before move-out..... only that the 'refund clock' doesn't start until the forwarding address is given IN WRITING.
TX Prop Code (§ 92.107)
"Tenant's Forwarding Address
(a) The landlord is not obligated to return a tenant's security deposit or give the tenant a written description of damages and charges until the tenant gives the landlord a written statement of the tenant's forwarding address for the purpose of refunding the security deposit."

Watch out:
And finally, TX Prop Code (§ 92.103) states, "A requirement that a tenant give advance notice of surrender as a condition for refunding the security deposit is effective only if the requirement is underlined or is printed in conspicuous bold print in the lease."

[HomeGuru]

Thanks JETX.

Ahhh, to be in Texas, where we have the benefit of the TAA Lease Contract and those who continually work to make sure we are covered from every possible angle!

Our Lease Contracts discuss, underline, state, spell out and explain in several different paragraphs that a written Notice of Intent to Vacate of at least _______ (this is where we indicate number of days which is for the most part 30 or 60--notice the line which makes the number underlined) days is required…This is also mentioned in the paragraph that explains the reletting charge which you refer to as charges for “liquidated damages”.

The TAA Lease Contract is set up for us, so that people like me do not have to be too smart. The reletting charge is $______ (amount determined by owner, not to exceed 85% of monthly rent amount) If the terms of the Lease are not fulfilled Ii.e. proper notice not given (explained in 3 different paragraphs what is considered “proper” notice) or if the resident moves out before the end of the Lease. Now, in TX it is best explained [to residents] that we do not mean they are forbidden to move out…they never have to move in, but they are responsible for the rent on the apartment through the end of their Lease…or until someone else moves into the apartment, whichever occurs first. A lot of people (everywhere) think that if they are not living in the rented unit, the Lease Contract just sort of disappears when they do.

Now, on to my point…In some cases here in TX, residents are required to pay an increased amount for a Security Deposit which is usually equal to the monthly rent charged on their Lease. Problem: Property Managers, Leasing Agent and other representatives tell the residents they must pay a month’s rent as the Security Deposit (bad credit, lack of rental history, etc.) Thus creating a great deal of confusion for those people. They move out thinking they have the last month’s rent already paid or in the event they break their Lease they do not understand why they are being charged accelerated rent “when they have already paid one of the month’s for which they are being charged”. (Accelerated Rent, another great thing we do here in TX)

As for the case with this lady who thought she was being charged for 3 months of rent when she moved out early. If she was told she was being charged for “liquidated damages” in the amount of $1500 (assuming rent = $500/month) for early termination of the Lease, an amount that is equal to 3 times the monthly rent INSTEAD of being told she will be charged for 3 months of rent for terminating her Lease, she would not be thinking she was off the hook since the new residents moved in shortly after she moved out. Therefore, she would not be left out there saying “Huh???” AND we would no longer be thought of as liars and thieves (well, not as often anyway)

My Main Point: Tell it like it is…exactly and do not say things that are anything other than EXACT.

Having had 0 hours of sleep last night, and not much more the 2 nights before (up with sick 4yr. old) I cannot be sure I am making any sense. If I read this next week after I have had some sleep, and it is as mixed up as I am right now, I will attempt to make my thoughts more clear. Or not...YeeeHaaaaa! Y'all! (that is thank you and have a great day everybody--Texas Style)

Oh yeh, regarding Security Deposit refunds & dispositions, we are required to have the dispositions completed within 30 days of the date of move-out...however it is up to the resident to provide forwarding address if they ever want to receive it or not.

If they owe money, I send their statements to every known address from their employers, to the person(s) listed as emergency contact, and to every other address I have for them.

And no, I do not put forth any effort to locate those who have a refund due. It has only happened maybe twice that a resident moved out and never gave me an address where I could mail them a check. One of those times, the person died while living in the apartment. Her family never contacted us, and that is one time I actually tried to find an address to send a refund check.

[HomeGuru]

Oh brother.

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