Broken Lease

[Rogerhj]

tx, can a lease be broken by tenant because of job move? if so, how far does the job have to be from leased property? how long can i charge late fees if 3 months of lease were missed? what county do i file suit in small claims court? info received from jp court says county of leasor residence, but property code for tx says in county where property leased, these are different. please provide tx statute for these questions.

 

[HomeGuru]

tx, can a lease be broken by tenant because of job move?
A: No unless in military and got orders to move.

if so, how far does the job have to be from leased property?
A: see above.

how long can i charge late fees if 3 months of lease were missed?
A: follow your written lease agreement or State L/T laws.

what county do i file suit in small claims court?
A: county that the property is located in.

info received from jp court says county of leasor residence, but property code for tx says in county where property leased, these are different.
A: what if the owner lives in Alaska?

please provide tx statute for these questions.

My response: search the internet.

 

[Rogerhj]

tks for info. however, lease agreement says late charges can be charged "per day thereafter untl rent is paid in full". does this mean that if a renter defaults on rent in may, i can charge late fees on june, july and august from the day it was due until now, or until normal end of contract?

 

[happy&lucky]

Technically YES, you can charge late fees for each and every month the rent and all the late fees are not paid.

But as usual, in court it must be reasonable, in NY its a maximum of 5% of the rent, then next month its also 5% of that months rent.

BUT you also as landlord have a DUTY to mitgate damages, you know the place is empty YOU have a duty to re rent asap.

To sit on an empty apartment for 3 months and to bill the tenant the rent PLUS charge daily late fees you would have a hard time explaning to a judge how someone has $500 late fees on a $500 a month apartment.

The judge wont allow that.

 

[Rogerhj]

tks for the info. here's the deal. lease for 1 yr, starting in july, 2000, ending august 2001. rentors moved out middle of may after paying mays rent. said to use deposit for june rent (violation of tx law), nothing received since then. house re-leased middle of august, paid $400 for real estate co. to find rentor. so, i can charge late fees from 1st of june to now, 1st of july until now and 1st of august to 15th, till now. correct?