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[AL] Reletting. Can the new tenant be responsible for preexisting damage?

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Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
So, my status (a sublettor or a new tenant) depends on the length of the lease, but not on the language used in the agreement?
No.
There is disagreement here about your situation. You would be wise to speak to a local attorney who can review the facts and give you solid advice.
 


Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Assignee, actually, because a subletter is tenant to other tenant. Pizdos pays the landlord directly under his own lease.
We have not seen the OP's lease. As described, there is no mention of this being a situation wherein Pizdos is the asignee of the original lease.
 

quincy

Senior Member
We have not seen the OP's lease. As described, there is no mention of this being a situation wherein Pizdos is the asignee of the original lease.
We saw part of the lease.

I agree that the lease should be personally reviewed in its entirety by a local legal professional.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
Assignee, actually, because a subletter is tenant to another tenant. Pizdos, you pay the landlord directly under your own lease so you are technically an assignee. Similar to a subletter but your responsibility is to the landlord and not the departing tenant.
That does sound like a better definition.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Yes, I can agree that it would be a better definition if that is how the lease defines the situation.

If the OP has an entirely new lease (as he has said several times), then he is not an assignee.
 

quincy

Senior Member
Yes, I can agree that it would be a better definition if that is how the lease defines the situation.

If the OP has an entirely new lease (as he has said several times), then he is not an assignee.
Once again, the new lease means little more than the landlord wants the new tenant to know the terms and conditions of renting the unit (e.g., monthly rent, due date, prohibited acts, etc). It indicates a three-month assignment of an existing one-year lease. It indicates the unit was rented in “as is” condition (the condition it was in when the departing tenant left).

Pizdos is responsible for paying his rent on time and adhering to all other terms and conditions of renting. But, absent anything in his lease that says otherwise, pizdos has taken on another tenant’s lease. The original lease will (in most cases) exist until the original lease term expires.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Once again, the new lease means little more than the landlord wants the new tenant to know the terms and conditions of renting the unit (e.g., monthly rent, due date, prohibited acts, etc). It indicates a three-month assignment of an existing one-year lease.
Not being snarky here...
Where did you see all that? The only part of the lease I saw was the snippet that mentions "as-is".
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
This is post 7:
This. However, my agreement does not say I am. It does not mention the departing tenant and his contract. My contract looks as though I am a fully fledged lessee with a 3-month term, except for that AS-IS phrase, which is not defined anywhere.
The OP has a standard lease that doesn't mention anywhere that he is an assignee of a prior contract.
 

pizdos

Member
It indicates a three-month assignment of an existing one-year lease.
Nothing I signed says that these 3 months are a part of a bigger term.

Let me, guys, remove all sensitive information from my lease and upload it here. I am not asking you to review it, because it is a job that takes time. I will do it just to avoid misunderstanding.
 

quincy

Senior Member
Nothing I signed says that these 3 months are a part of a bigger term.

Let me, guys, remove all sensitive information from my lease and upload it here. I am not asking you to review it, because it is a job that takes time. I will do it just to avoid misunderstanding.
As a note: IF you post the entire lease with personal identifying information redacted, you should know that contract review falls outside the scope of this forum. For a complete analysis of your lease, you will need this analysis done by an attorney licensed to practice in your area.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
No. There are portions of the lease in quote boxes.
You're right - and the portion in the quote box is pretty clear in stating that the new tenant is NOT an assignee and is to execute a new lease. See clause d:

Even though I am essentially a subletter (or rather an assignee(?), because this is not subletting, but lease assignment or re-letting), no document I signed states this. Does this mean I should be treated as a subletter/assignee?

What's also interesting here, the landlord's procedure of re-letting in my agreement looks as follows:

Residents find a replacement Resident acceptable to Landlord before moving out and Landlord expressly consents to the replacement, then:
a) Such substitute Resident will be obligated to the standard application fee, which shall be immediately due and payable;
b) The departing Resident must pay for all damage to the Unit and the Property as provided in this Lease;
c) The replacement Resident must meet the Rental Qualifications Criteria and Acknowledgement;
d) The replacement Resident must fully complete and execute a new Lease and all addenda, and cause a new Guarantee to
be executed and delivered;
e) A rekeying fee will be due if rekeying is requested or required; and
f) The departing Resident will no longer remain liable for all Lease Contract obligations for the rest of the original Lease Contract term.
 

quincy

Senior Member
You're right - and the portion in the quote box is pretty clear in stating that the new tenant is NOT an assignee and is to execute a new lease. See clause d:
The “departing” resident is the original tenant. The departing resident is still responsible for damage to the unit but is no longer responsible for rent payments.

The landlord has preserved his right to hold the original tenant liable for damage to the unit until the original lease expires. The landlord, with the new lease for pizdos, can also hold the new tenant secondarily liable.
 

pizdos

Member
No. There are portions of the lease in quote boxes.
This portion is from the ASSIGNMENT AND RELETTING section. It describes how the procedure of reletting would look like if I decided to break my lease by finding a new tenant. I guess, this section is irrelevant because there is going to be no reletting from me to somebody else, but I think it can illustrate what should have happened if LL did not invent this "AS IS" provision.
 

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