I lost my job. Trying to get out of lease, but the apt complex doesn't seem to be hel

[CA_Living]

I have a question regarding my rights.I moved to WA from CA & began working before my apt was available (housed temporarily by employer). I've never lived on my own & this was my 1st time renting. I signed my lease on a Thursday, 2 days before I was suppose to move in. I paid for the 1st 2 months rent & a pet fee up-front, & 3 hours after signing my lease I was released from my position & my employer tried to recontract me at a significantly lesser paying position-one that I would not be able to afford rent. I informed the apartment complex that I had lost my job...the apartment was/is ready for move in, & I wanted to know what I could do to get out of the contract since it had not been 24 hours since I had signed. The manager was out of the office, sick, & was not available until Monday morning. At that time I was told that I was legally bound to the contract & there was no way out other than re-leasing the apt. I asked for my 1st check back, but I was told by the office staff that they could not get it back to me-I put a stop payment on it & informed the apt I had done so, so they would not cash it. I wrote a new check to cover only the 1st month rent, in hopes that since the apt is ready for move in that they would be able to rent it out quickly. I gave back the keys to my apt & have since moved back to CA. There are now a few problems: They cashed the check I asked them not to because of the stop payment, & now I owe them a returned check fee-Is this legal that I pay this fee even though I told them I put a stop payment on the check and I gave them a valid check in replacement for rent, & the office staff said they would tell the manager not to cash it? I have been told 2 months in a row that someone has put a deposit down for my apt, but last minute they say the person backs out-I don't believe they are trying to rent my apt, so I have been paying for an apt I never even opened the door to, or even have keys to anymore. They say it is illegal to "Steer" someone to rent a particular apt if several are available...Is this true? They said that they would do everything in their power to rent out my apt, but I feel as if they are going to try to hold me in my lease without replacing the tenant. I have called with out identifying myself to ask about what they have available & they say they only have one 1 bed/1bath apartment (the size of my apartment), but when I call & I do ID myself, they have told me they have three 1 bed/1bath available-Doesn't this sound like they are steering to fill up the complex before they rent mine out? I feel at a loss. I lost my job-which I told them about. I moved back to CA, and I am currently looking for a job. I do not want to keep paying for an apartment out of state that I never even opened the door to...Any advise to deal with this situation would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

Ask them if you can also attempt to find a tenant for this apartment (i.e., someone to sublet the apartment). This may be difficult to do long distance but sites like craigslist may help you in terms of advertising this place.

Unfortunately like some other types of contracts, real estate contracts do not allow for a cooling off period.

Gail