** Arizona Landlord / Tenant issue

[jefft91436]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona

I am writing this on behalf of my Mom who is 63 years old. She rent an apartment in a large complex in Chandler, AZ and was paying $850 a month for rent.

She fell ill and lost her job in December of last year. She went and explained the situation to the landlord of the complex she resided in for over 2 years. They told her if she broke her lease early she would be responsible to pay $2,500 upon departure and threatened to ruin her credit and said she'd never be able to rent again.

Scared and confused, she signed some sort or agreement that she would pay $100 a month for the next 2 years until the $2,500 was paid off.

She had to move in with my sister and is now on social security making a measly $850 a month. A year has now passed and she has paid $1,200 to the company.

I heard of all this today and question the legality of this. Are there any hardship laws in Arizona for seniors? I am in California and believe there is some sort of protection here.

She has hospital bills and proof of her job loss.... she did get a free months rent when she moved from one apartment to another in the same complex, which we both agreed is reasonable to have to pay back, but charging her 2 additional months rent is what i have the problem with. It is my understanding the apartment was rented weeks after she moved out.

Can anyone shed some light, or lead me in a direction to see if i can stop my mom making the $100 a month payments? She did call an attorney shortly after this happened last year and he offered to take the case and file paperwork but wanted to charge her $500. He stated however he wouldn't guarantee he could get her out of the payments. She didn't want to take the risk.

Any info would be appreciated by myself…and my mom.

;-)

JT & MomWhat is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[Gail in Georgia]

It is quite common that in order for a tenant to break a lease, they are required to pay a certain amount; typically two months rent and perhaps the loss of her security deposit. This allows the tenant to leave without the fear of facing a lawsuit for breaking a contract and helps the complex avoid the hassle of suing someone.

The complex was fairly generous in allowing your mother to make monthly payments instead of having to come up with the entire amount all at once.
Sounds like she did sign a contract agreeing to this amount for this period of time. Did this agreement include an stipulation that if the apartment was rerented quickly she would no longer owe this amount?

At 63 she can hardly be considered a senior citizen (perhaps I'm sensitive to this as I'm not that far off from that age myself!) and unless one can prove some mental incapacity at the time of her signing this contract is legally binding.

Gail