Transferral of Lease

[jetta]

My husband and I are buying a house. When we initially went to our apartment's manager, she said that we could give 30 day notice and there should be no problem with getting out of our lease. Three weeks later, we sent the apartment leasing office a letter stating we were moving out in 35 days. We received a letter back from a company we had never heard of. It seems that in the three weeks since we approached the management, the complex had been bought by a new management company who is charging us an outrageous termination fee. My question is, are we obligated to respect this lease given they are not the party we entered into the contract with and given that there is no provision in our lease on what to do should a transfer of ownership of the complex be made. I need help!!! Thank you!

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Irritated tenant

 

[Tracey]

Check your lease language. Does it say the contract is between you and "the company, its heirs, and assigns"? The new owner is likely an assignee of the lease and can enforce its terms against you. OTOH, if there's no assigns language, you have no lease with the new guys other than a month-to-month lease.

Good luck,
Tracey

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This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws.