Sublet fell thru

[mobbdeep]

What is the name of your state? Arizona

Hello,

I and my roommate were renting a house through a property management company. On June 22nd, we decided we could not afford the rent as they were raising it in July and our 3rd roommate had moved out. I spoke to the property manager who said that as a part of the lease agreement if we found someone to take over our lease, we would sacrifice $800 of our $995 security deposit and the new people would just take over. We were okay with that.

Moving forward, I found a family on June 23rd who was interested in taking over the lease. They applied and passed all necessary background checks and credit checks. I stayed in contact with the property management company who said they were finalizing the lease and whatnot get it sent over to the new tenants. Keep in mind, their move in date was set for August 1st. Over the last few days, I haven't heard anything from the new tenants. The last I heard is they were waiting on the lease to be sent to them to sign so they can move in. Turns out after I tried to setup a time to give them the keys tomorrow, the wife blocked me on Facebook. I got my roommate to message her and she said that the property management company never sent them the lease and never communicated with them since they heard the lease was being tidied up which was towards the end of June. She said going to the office wasn't an option because they had one vehicle and her husband works. All in all, they backed out of everything because the property management company dropped the ball on sending them the lease or ever staying in contact with the new tenants.

During all of this, my roommate and I moved into a new apartment as of yesterday under the impression this was all good as the property management company said they would take care of the rest on their end. Well, now I don't know what to do because we did everything we were supposed to do and completely moved out of that house with all utilities transferred.

What do I do? I don't think I should be responsible for another months of rent as we paid for all of July in which we were living there.

 

[quincy]

What did the management company say to you when you asked?

 

[mobbdeep]

What did the management company say to you when you asked?

When I asked what?

 

[quincy]

When I asked what?

When you asked if there was a problem with the subletter.

When was your lease supposed to end originally? I assumed it was July, because you said the rent was being increased in July.

 

[Litigator22]

What is the name of your state? Arizona

Hello,

I and my roommate were renting a house through a property management company. On June 22nd, we decided we could not afford the rent as they were raising it in July and our 3rd roommate had moved out. I spoke to the property manager who said that as a part of the lease agreement if we found someone to take over our lease, we would sacrifice $800 of our $995 security deposit and the new people would just take over. We were okay with that.

Moving forward, I found a family on June 23rd who was interested in taking over the lease. They applied and passed all necessary background checks and credit checks. I stayed in contact with the property management company who said they were finalizing the lease and whatnot get it sent over to the new tenants. Keep in mind, their move in date was set for August 1st. Over the last few days, I haven't heard anything from the new tenants. The last I heard is they were waiting on the lease to be sent to them to sign so they can move in. Turns out after I tried to setup a time to give them the keys tomorrow, the wife blocked me on Facebook. I got my roommate to message her and she said that the property management company never sent them the lease and never communicated with them since they heard the lease was being tidied up which was towards the endof June. She said going to the office wasn't an option because they had one vehicle and her husband works. All in all, they backed out of everything because the property management company dropped the ball on sending them the lease or ever staying in contact with the new tenants.

During all of this, my roommate and I moved into a new apartment as of yesterday under the impression this was all good as the property management company said they would take care of the rest on their end. Well, now I don't know what to do because we did everything we were supposed to do and completely moved out of that house with all utilities transferred.

What do I do? I don't think I should be responsible for another months of rent as we paid for all of July in which we were living there.

You leave it unsaid, but I am assuming that the nature of your contractual relationship with the owner was that of a month-to-month tenancy or a tenancy at will, as opposed to a fixed term lease. I don't see your concern being limited to the liability for August or "another month's rent" being consistent with a fixed term lease. Nor would the arbitrary raising of rent in July seem compatible with a fixed term lease.

If so, then the question becomes whether or not the month-to-month tenancy was effectively concluded as of midnight July 31st.

The rule of law in Arizona and in most jurisdictions is that either the landlord or the tenant may terminate a month-to-month tenancy by giving written notice to the other party at least thirty days prior the periodic rental date. (See: Arizona Revised Statutes Section 33-1375(B)

Here there is no mention of any such notice having been given by either party. So technically there has been no compliance with the stated law.

Of course it could be argued that the owner waived the 30-day notice requirement due to the mentioned circumstances on finding a replacement. On the other hand the owner would have a sound rebuttal argument that any such waiver was fully conditioned upon finalizing a written lease with a substitute. A condition precedent that seemingly has yet to be met!

The sad truth is that you are relying entirely on your contention that the deal soured solely because of the owner's management company's failure to timely tender a form of lease to the proposed new tenants. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that you have a shred of admissible evidence to prove it.

 

[mobbdeep]

When you asked if there was a problem with the subletter.

When was your lease supposed to end originally? I assumed it was July, because you said the rent was being increased in July.

I emailed the Vice President of the property management company because going directly to the person who is charge of leasing is horrible with communication whether it be email or phone. I am waiting for a response on Monday as they're closed during the weekend.

We were asked if we wanted to renew the lease in January for July 2020-July2021 in which at the time, we agreed to renew. With that being said, one of my 2 roommates moved out in June and my last roommate and I decided to downsize to an apartment. At this point, we did all necessary communication with the property management company to get the sublet taken care of and it was up to them to finalize the lease portion. According to the new tenant, they never sent the lease and since they weren't sure when they were moving, so they were forced out of their current place and to get a new place July 28th otherwise they'd be homeless. We notified the property management company more than 30 days in advance we were looking to have someone take over our lease in which they informed us before then, come July 1st, rent would be increased to $1050/mo.


Either way, neither the new tenants or property management company reached out to me about the situation and we did everything we were supposed to do and it was up to them to send over the lease. I figured out the hard way that it fell thru when I was blocked by the wife of the family that was renting and my roommate had to message her to figure out what happened.

You leave it unsaid, but I am assuming that the nature of your contractual relationship with the owner was that of a month-to-month tenancy or a tenancy at will, as opposed to a fixed term lease. I don't see your concern being limited to the liability for August or "another month's rent" being consistent with a fixed term lease. Nor would the arbitrary raising of rent in July seem compatible with a fixed term lease.

If so, then the question becomes whether or not the month-to-month tenancy was effectively concluded as of midnight July 31st.

The rule of law in Arizona and in most jurisdictions is that either the landlord or the tenant may terminate a month-to-month tenancy by giving written notice to the other party at least thirty days prior the periodic rental date. (See: Arizona Revised Statutes Section 33-1375(B)

Here there is no mention of any such notice having been given by either party. So technically there has been no compliance with the stated law.

Of course it could be argued that the owner waived the 30-day notice requirement due to the mentioned circumstances on finding a replacement. On the other hand the owner would have a sound rebuttal argument that any such waiver was fully conditioned upon finalizing a written lease with a substitute. A condition precedent that seemingly has yet to be met!

The sad truth is that you are relying entirely on your contention that the deal soured solely because of the owner's management company's failure to timely tender a form of lease to the proposed new tenants. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that you have a shred of admissible evidence to prove it.

It was a fixed term lease. In January, they asked us if we wanted to renew the lease for July 2020-July 2021 in which at the time we did. However, we realized we couldn't afford it and seeked out our options to move out without leasing breaking fees. We found a family who wanted to take the lease over starting August 1st 2020 - July 2021. However, they indicated they never received the lease to sign which I believe because the communication with the property management company is horrible. We did everything we were supposed to do at this point and I have emails from the property management company providing letter of recommendation for our new apartments stating we gave plenty notice and our move out date. At that point, it was up to them to do their job and send the lease to the new tenants as there was nothing else for us to do.

I'll have to see what the VP says on Monday as he's the one who I messaged as I would never hear the right story from the leasing agent.

 

[quincy]

I emailed the Vice President of the property management company because going directly to the person who is charge of leasing is horrible with communication whether it be email or phone. I am waiting for a response on Monday as they're closed during the weekend.

We were asked if we wanted to renew the lease in January for July 2020-July2021 in which at the time, we agreed to renew. With that being said, one of my 2 roommates moved out in June and my last roommate and I decided to downsize to an apartment. At this point, we did all necessary communication with the property management company to get the sublet taken care of and it was up to them to finalize the lease portion. According to the new tenant, they never sent the lease and since they weren't sure when they were moving, so they were forced out of their current place and to get a new place July 28th otherwise they'd be homeless. We notified the property management company more than 30 days in advance we were looking to have someone take over our lease in which they informed us before then, come July 1st, rent would be increased to $1050/mo.


Either way, neither the new tenants or property management company reached out to me about the situation and we did everything we were supposed to do and it was up to them to send over the lease. I figured out the hard way that it fell thru when I was blocked by the wife of the family that was renting and my roommate had to message her to figure out what happened.



It was a fixed term lease. In January, they asked us if we wanted to renew the lease for July 2020-July 2021 in which at the time we did. However, we realized we couldn't afford it and seeked out our options to move out without leasing breaking fees. We found a family who wanted to take the lease over starting August 1st 2020 - July 2021. However, they indicated they never received the lease to sign which I believe because the communication with the property management company is horrible. We did everything we were supposed to do at this point and I have emails from the property management company providing letter of recommendation for our new apartments stating we gave plenty notice and our move out date. At that point, it was up to them to do their job and send the lease to the new tenants as there was nothing else for us to do.

I'll have to see what the VP says on Monday as he's the one who I messaged as I would never hear the right story from the leasing agent.

So ... you signed a new lease for July 2020 to July 2021, and you had 11 months remaining on your lease when you moved out. You believed that the remaining months of the lease would be covered by the approved subletter.

When you originally agreed to renew the lease, were you aware at that time that the rent was increasing to $1050? Did the lease you signed have the new rent amount on it? Did you and both of your roommates sign the new lease?

The good news is that you have written communications with the property management company indicating you gave them proper notice, and the property management company provided your new rental company with a letter of recommendation.

Do you still have the keys to your previous rental?

I think you will have to wait to see what your former rental says. I think you have support to show you do not owe anything more ... but if you still have the keys, that is a problem.

 

[adjusterjack]

At that point, it was up to them to do their job and send the lease to the new tenants as there was nothing else for us to do.

That's where you're wrong. Management had no obligation to do that for you. It was entirely up to you to go get the papers and get them signed by your replacement.

 

[quincy]

That's where you're wrong. Management had no obligation to do that for you. It was entirely up to you to go get the papers and get them signed by your replacement.

Although that is a fair assumption, and mobdeep was responsible for turning in the keys to the property management before moving, it is possible that property management was intending to send the lease for signatures.

 

[adjusterjack]

I'll fix it.

At that point, it was up to them to do their job and send the lease to the new tenants as there was nothing else for us to do.

That's where you're wrong. Management had no obligation to do that for you. It was entirely up to you to go get the papers and get them signed by your replacement if management didn't do it.

Self preservation is nobody's business but your own.

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state? Arizona.
... I stayed in contact with the property management company who said they were finalizing the lease and whatnot get it sent over to the new tenants ... The last I heard is they were waiting on the lease to be sent to them ... never sent them the lease and never communicated with them since they heard the lease was being tidied up ...

... under the impression this was all good as the property management company said they would take care of the rest on their end. ...

I agree it was up to mobdeep to ensure all was settled with the new tenants before leasing a new place and moving out but, if all is as mobdeep says, the failure could partly be blamed on the property management’s comments made to mobdeep.

This may, or may not, help him.

 

[Litigator22]

. . . That's where you're wrong. Management had no obligation to do that for you. It was entirely up to you to go get the papers and get them signed by your replacement if management didn't do it.

Perhaps so. But only provided the unlikelihood that the arrangements between the OP and the owner's agent was that he was to do all the legwork needed to close a contract with a substitute lessee.

That aside, there is another legal aspect by which the OP could benefit. One that I unfortunately overlooked in my initial response to the OP. This feature has to do with the principle of promissory estoppel. *

We don't know precisely what conditions were attached to the agent's promise to let OP out of his lease. If his part was merely to present person(s) fully qualified and ready and willing to substitute and assume his position and he were to do so (which he seems to believe he has fulfilled) the owner could be denied enforcing its legal remedies because of that principle.

In other words, the OP could enforce the agent's promise even though it lacks the element of consideration.
___________________

[*] Promissory estoppel is the legal principle that a promise is enforceable by law, even if made without formal consideration when a promissor has made a promise to a promisee who then relies on that promise to his subsequent detriment.

 

[mobbdeep]

@quincy @Litigator22 @adjusterjack

As far as being aware of everyone on my lease with it going up in July, yes I was aware. All 3 of my roommates signed to the lease. As far as the keys, yes I have them because they were closed my move out date.

My assignment to get out of the lease was to find a substitute who can pass all necessary requirements to rent from the property management company and sacrifice $800 (sublet fee) of my security in which I did find someone to take over the lease and agreed to sacrifice that amount of the deposit. I gave them all necessary notices of the move out date and they even gave me a letter of recommendation for my new apartment complex. I continuously followed up with the person who does the leasing and they told me every time that they were preparing the lease to send to the new tenants. This is all digital and done on the leasing agents end, not mine. Could I have followed up every single day? Sure. But I followed up between both tenants and leasing agents and was told by the tenants they were waiting to receive the lease and the leasing agent that they were finalizing it to be sent over. What else was I supposed to do at that point? That's where I say I did everything I was supposed to do.

It was only when I went to plan a day to meet up with whoever to turn the keys in to that I found out I was blocked via messaging with the new tenants and my roommate reached out and they explained they backed out due to the poor communication on behalf of the property management company and never sending over the lease.

I already contacted a higher up of the company because as mentioned, because the below people are incompetent when it comes to communication and if I need to take legal steps, I will. I have all necessary contact between myself and the property management company regarding this along with between myself and the new tenants. Hell, I even went as far physically walking into the office to originally find out what I could do to get out of the lease early.

 

[quincy]

Did you ever turn in the keys to management?

I think you have a reasonable argument IF management comes after you for additional rent. They might not.

 

[mobbdeep]

Did you ever turn in the keys to management?

I think you have a reasonable argument IF management comes after you for additional rent. They might not.

I did not because when I made the attempt to on said move out date, they were closed. That's when I figured I could probably just meet with the tenants and give them the keys but that's when I found out I was blocked and they backed out.