Utah Apartment Legal Question - worth fighting?

[webbwayne]

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

Hi everyone! I'm new here so I hope this isn't a problem asking a question here. I just need to know if I should get a lawyer or just bite the bullet.

So we've been renting this 3 room 2 bath apartment since I believe 2014. In late 2016 we decided to move to a closer to our work places and purchased a home before our lease was up. After everything was said and done the lease was supposed to break contract and get out by Feb 1st 2017. We paid the $2,590 in fees to break contract, paid the cleaning fees(even tho we had it professionally cleaned), and lost our deposit of $200 plus I was obligated to pay any rent for everything month they could not find another renter. I understood the contract and moved forward. Mind you our lease was supposed to end May 2017 (end of month).

We handed in our keys on December 28th and moved forward. The employees assured me that they will find someone to rent it soon as it was a bottom floor unit and highly accessible. But then employees kept telling me they had to rent 2 or 3 other units first before they'd rend mine out. I told them that i'd paid the fee and they must at least put my apartment on the market for which they would respond, "IF someone wants it we will absolutely rent it to them". I said ok as long as you offer it.

Fast forward to February 2017, the apartment manager calls me after I notice our fee has been refunded and credited to our account to pay February and March's rent. I ask about this and she tells me this is the best way since "techincally we haven't broken contract yet". Despite the fact I have a written statement in their archives saying otherwise and another email sent from an employee December 28th confirming i handed in the keys. She told me this was the best way for now and that we will figure it out once the unit is rented and that they will try to rent it soon.

Fast forward to yesterday when I went into the office to speak with them and the employee told me that they had no plans to rent it out until May 30th when my lease was up. I asked her if the fee still applied at that point and she said she wasn't sure as I technically broke my lease back in December. I asked her why they aren't listing my website and they said my lease wasn't technically up.

So now I'm fast approaching May and have no clue if I will have to repay the fee I already paid then got credited back. The whole thing seems sketchy to me but now I don't know if its even worth fighting. I mean is it worth pursuing and getting a lawyer? Especially since they told me they haven't listed it and are using it as a showroom as I found out looking n the window and seeing the lights on. I'm also paying a prorated gas and electric use even though I cancelled that all in December.

The math works out like this:

Pay out my lease plus fee - Feb - May = $5,024(4 months rent) + 2590 (breaking lease) + $400 for cleaning and I lost deposit. = $8,014 about

Is this excessive? I mean the contract says what it says and I understand that, but had they put it on the market in January like they said maybe some of this might have gone down (rent wise).

Anyway any help or advice would be welcome.

 

[LdiJ]

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

Hi everyone! I'm new here so I hope this isn't a problem asking a question here. I just need to know if I should get a lawyer or just bite the bullet.

So we've been renting this 3 room 2 bath apartment since I believe 2014. In late 2016 we decided to move to a closer to our work places and purchased a home before our lease was up. After everything was said and done the lease was supposed to break contract and get out by Feb 1st 2017. We paid the $2,590 in fees to break contract, paid the cleaning fees(even tho we had it professionally cleaned), and lost our deposit of $200 plus I was obligated to pay any rent for everything month they could not find another renter. I understood the contract and moved forward. Mind you our lease was supposed to end May 2017 (end of month).

We handed in our keys on December 28th and moved forward. The employees assured me that they will find someone to rent it soon as it was a bottom floor unit and highly accessible. But then employees kept telling me they had to rent 2 or 3 other units first before they'd rend mine out. I told them that i'd paid the fee and they must at least put my apartment on the market for which they would respond, "IF someone wants it we will absolutely rent it to them". I said ok as long as you offer it.

Fast forward to February 2017, the apartment manager calls me after I notice our fee has been refunded and credited to our account to pay February and March's rent. I ask about this and she tells me this is the best way since "techincally we haven't broken contract yet". Despite the fact I have a written statement in their archives saying otherwise and another email sent from an employee December 28th confirming i handed in the keys. She told me this was the best way for now and that we will figure it out once the unit is rented and that they will try to rent it soon.

Fast forward to yesterday when I went into the office to speak with them and the employee told me that they had no plans to rent it out until May 30th when my lease was up. I asked her if the fee still applied at that point and she said she wasn't sure as I technically broke my lease back in December. I asked her why they aren't listing my website and they said my lease wasn't technically up.

So now I'm fast approaching May and have no clue if I will have to repay the fee I already paid then got credited back. The whole thing seems sketchy to me but now I don't know if its even worth fighting. I mean is it worth pursuing and getting a lawyer? Especially since they told me they haven't listed it and are using it as a showroom as I found out looking n the window and seeing the lights on. I'm also paying a prorated gas and electric use even though I cancelled that all in December.

The math works out like this:

Pay out my lease plus fee - Feb - May = $5,024(4 months rent) + 2590 (breaking lease) + $400 for cleaning and I lost deposit. = $8,014 about

Is this excessive? I mean the contract says what it says and I understand that, but had they put it on the market in January like they said maybe some of this might have gone down (rent wise).

Anyway any help or advice would be welcome.

Wait a minute...are you saying that they expect you to pay 2590 for breaking the lease AND rent for the rest of the lease term? That is absurd.

 

[webbwayne]

Yes, that's what the contract said. Pay the $2,590 for breaking lease + any month's rent until they find a new renter (which they never listed my apartment). Now, I have no proof besides the board I saw in the office and the employee telling me they had not plans to rent it out until 2 or 3 top floor units were rented first.

 

[webbwayne]

Wait a minute...are you saying that they expect you to pay 2590 for breaking the lease AND rent for the rest of the lease term? That is absurd.

I paid the fee in December, they refunded me the fee in February saying that we hand't broke contract yet. My fear is that they will have me pay rent until the end of May, then hit me again with the $2,590 fee.

 

[LdiJ]

I paid the fee in December, they refunded me the fee in February saying that we hand't broke contract yet. My fear is that they will have me pay rent until the end of May, then hit me again with the $2,590 fee.

They cannot do that. They cannot collect rent from you for the entire lease period and collect a termination fee.

 

[webbwayne]

They cannot do that. They cannot collect rent from you for the entire lease period and collect a termination fee.

To be clear, I've been paying my rent month to month, not a lump sum. But if they do come after me with a fee I guess that would be the time to get a lawyer, correct?

 

[LdiJ]

To be clear, I've been paying my rent month to month, not a lump sum. But if they do come after me with a fee I guess that would be the time to get a lawyer, correct?

I understand that you are paying month to month, just as if you still lived there. Which means that you actually have not terminated your lease. If you end up paying the full amount of rent for the full term of the lease, then they cannot collect a termination fee from you. If they try, then yes, you will need to take legal action.

 

[FarmerJ]

A problem I have with this property management firm is that when a tenant pays for a unit even when they are not living in it they still should have the use of it , which you don't , SO as to electric and heat If it was me because of this that you wrote >>>> Especially since they told me they haven't listed it and are using it as a showroom as I found out looking n the window and seeing the lights on. I'm also paying a prorated gas and electric use even though I cancelled that all in December< I would refuse to pay another dime because if they are using it as a so called show room they are keeping it off the market and with out the keys you no longer can use what your paying for SO the 2590. if you have cashed it, keep it! and you might want to send them a certified letter telling them that your not paying any more. See their was no way they could fairly keep both the 2590 and every months rent no matter what they told you and courts tend to not allow landlords to double dip or be paid more than once which makes sense as to them giving you back the 2590 since they may have realized what they were doing would make them look like horses asses in court. When they began to use that apartment as a so called show room I have to wonder what they would have done if you had told them to give you back the keys so you could use what you were paying for (even if it was just to show up twice a month and urinate ) I get it that there really is no kind of law that would have required them to re rent any one particular unit before another It is too bad you didn't refuse to pay that 1256.00 a month, you would have been far better off. so you know if you cease paying and do not pay May rent they may decide to take you to court for it, IF they do that make sure you show up for court and when you speak as to why you believe you should not owe may rent make sure to tell the court just who it was that told you they were using it as a showroom and had you pay for utilities use that they used not you for space you should have been able to actually use in some way even if it was to just show up and spend one or two nights in a sleeping bag. ( see im wondering if a judge would decide that they were not being fair and not allow them to get any more from you since it seems they sure didn't even try to place another tenant into it ) I most reasonable landlords would have been able to find a replacement tenant in 6 t0 8 weeks and should have been able to find a suitable tenant with in 12 weeks.