Please help, in a tough situation.

[nycneedhelp]

I am in TX and I was recently laid off, and due to that , I had to break the lease and move to my home country. Now the apartment community wants to charge me for all the concession in the rent (ie there was a market rate established during the time of me from the start date apt minus my rent amount). for eg, my rent is 900 where is my market rate on that apt is 1100, so my concession is $200 per month. Now I stayed in this apt for 7 months and I have 6 more months to go and so the apt mgt is asking me to $200*7 months = $1400 + 2 months notice on the apt on market rate. This market rate was established by the apartment management and was mentioned in the lease. Additionally they are also charging a reletting fee of $1200. Now the most important point is that, they have already found another tenant to occupy my apt once i move after my 2 months notice.

My question is "Is this legal" I do understand that I signed in the dotted lines and does it mean that I have to pay the concession provided to me for all the months I stayed there? also, is the reletting fee legal? again it was mentioned in the lease. What i read or heard somewhere was if the landlord was able to re let the apartment then there should not be charges for the existing tenant. Is that not right? I am very new to this subject and need to go back to my home country since I do not have a job and need to go back to my ailing parents. Please go easy on me, if you find my questions stupid as I have knowledge on this subject. Please help. thank you.

 

[mightymoose]

No, they are wrong, and you would be foolish to pay. They can only claim from you the amount of rent agreed in the lease, and even then they are not automatically entitled to 7 months worth of unpaid rent. They must attempt to rent the apartment to someone else as soon as possible to minimize their damages.

As you describe it, it sounds like you have not yet moved and they already have a new tenant lined up. If this is the case then they don't have any real damages. I'm not sure about their reletting fee... check your lease for any mention of that. If it is in there then they can probably stick you with it... but that sounds pretty excessive. You don't have to pay it unless they take you to court and a judge orders you to pay.

I suspect you will have trouble getting any security deposit back, but you can sue them if they refuse. They can only keep your deposit for specific reasons, so if you leave the apartment clean and in excellent condition they will have a hard time keeping it if you take them to court.

Bottom line here- you are being bullied. Don't take it. However, if you are leaving the country you won't have much opportunity to sue for your deposit. At the same time, they won't be able to sue you for what they say you owe.... however you are the only one that will actually have a loss if they keep your deposit. Your best bet might be to discuss this all with them as politely as possible... make them aware that you know you are entitled to the deposit if the place is clean, and that they do not have any damages since a new tenant is already lined up far in advance. If they refund your deposit and let the new guy in then everything breaks even.

 

[nycneedhelp]

more info.

couple of more information. This concession rate is mentioned in the lease. Yes, I have not moved yet and they have a tenant lined up. Reletting fee is something like termination fee they charge for breaking the lease and thats lot of money again. Thats mentioned in the lease too. I really dont care about the security deposit. As far as the concession on the monthly rent, thats mentioned in the lease. Hope this information helps.

No, they are wrong, and you would be foolish to pay. They can only claim from you the amount of rent agreed in the lease, and even then they are not automatically entitled to 7 months worth of unpaid rent. They must attempt to rent the apartment to someone else as soon as possible to minimize their damages.

As you describe it, it sounds like you have not yet moved and they already have a new tenant lined up. If this is the case then they don't have any real damages. I'm not sure about their reletting fee... check your lease for any mention of that. If it is in there then they can probably stick you with it... but that sounds pretty excessive. You don't have to pay it unless they take you to court and a judge orders you to pay.

I suspect you will have trouble getting any security deposit back, but you can sue them if they refuse. They can only keep your deposit for specific reasons, so if you leave the apartment clean and in excellent condition they will have a hard time keeping it if you take them to court.

Bottom line here- you are being bullied. Don't take it. However, if you are leaving the country you won't have much opportunity to sue for your deposit. At the same time, they won't be able to sue you for what they say you owe.... however you are the only one that will actually have a loss if they keep your deposit. Your best bet might be to discuss this all with them as politely as possible... make them aware that you know you are entitled to the deposit if the place is clean, and that they do not have any damages since a new tenant is already lined up far in advance. If they refund your deposit and let the new guy in then everything breaks even.

 

[mightymoose]

If you don't care about the security deposit then you have no worries. Simply move and go back to your home country. They have their tenant and won't be out a dime. Don't worry about their silly fees. The only way they can get that money is if you are foolish enough to pay it.

 

[nycneedhelp]

worried.

i am a lot worried about my credit history. they do have my ssn on file, and so far I have maintained a great credit history and am worried if they will mess it up if i just go. they were talking about collection agencies and stuff like that.

If you don't care about the security deposit then you have no worries. Simply move and go back to your home country. They have their tenant and won't be out a dime. Don't worry about their silly fees. The only way they can get that money is if you are foolish enough to pay it.

 

[army judge]

I am in TX and I was recently laid off, and due to that , I had to break the lease and move to my home country. Now the apartment community wants to charge me for all the concession in the rent (ie there was a market rate established during the time of me from the start date apt minus my rent amount). for eg, my rent is 900 where is my market rate on that apt is 1100, so my concession is $200 per month. Now I stayed in this apt for 7 months and I have 6 more months to go and so the apt mgt is asking me to $200*7 months = $1400 + 2 months notice on the apt on market rate. This market rate was established by the apartment management and was mentioned in the lease. Additionally they are also charging a reletting fee of $1200. Now the most important point is that, they have already found another tenant to occupy my apt once i move after my 2 months notice.

My question is "Is this legal" I do understand that I signed in the dotted lines and does it mean that I have to pay the concession provided to me for all the months I stayed there? also, is the reletting fee legal? again it was mentioned in the lease. What i read or heard somewhere was if the landlord was able to re let the apartment then there should not be charges for the existing tenant. Is that not right? I am very new to this subject and need to go back to my home country since I do not have a job and need to go back to my ailing parents. Please go easy on me, if you find my questions stupid as I have knowledge on this subject. Please help. thank you.

If you're out of the United States, you can IGNORE the US based lawsuit.
No US court can touch you in anaother country for a US based civil matter (well, not one of such a small consequence anyway).

So, live your life, be free, and ignore these creeps that are pursuing you outside their jurisdiction.
You've got kevlar all over you, buddy, you're outside the territorial jurisdiction of a lousy, Texas court.

 

[nycneedhelp]

reason.

reason i care about all this is because I am a law abiding, legal immigrant, who contributed a lot to this country, working in healthcare and helping lots of patients for their ailments. Thats how I have been for the past 10 years of my stay here and not a single bad point in my credit history or even a small minor traffic violation.

Good bless everyone.

Thanks for all the good souls who answered my questions, you folks are doing a heck of a great service and I appreciate it. And to the person whose title is army judge, if you are from army, "Thank you for your service to this great country. Because of people like you, we all lived and will peacefully here at home. Thank you".

If you're out of the United States, you can IGNORE the US based lawsuit.
No US court can touch you in anaother country for a US based civil matter (well, not one of such a small consequence anyway).

So, live your life, be free, and ignore these creeps that are pursuing you outside their jurisdiction.
You've got kevlar all over you, buddy, you're outside the territorial jurisdiction of a lousy, Texas court.

 

[mightymoose]

They don't have anything to sue you for, and there is nothing for them to send to collections. They are trying to get you to pay what sounds like frivolous fees. They have a new tenant, they have no damages, they have nothing of any significance to sue you for. They actually will come out ahead if they keep your security deposit- very kind of you to give it to them... assuming they don't return it automatically.