Security Deposit Want out of lease, no mention in lease to request early release

[mustang54]

My friend and girlfriend moved into an apartment 6 months ago, signed a 1 year lease, gave one month deposit and one month rent. They are having a hard time finding jobs, and would like to move back home which is in another state. The apartment they are renting is an illegal apartment; 3 families live there. The landlord never fixed any of the problems or cleaned the apartment when they got it. They did. The lease does not mention anything about how to go about leaving prior to the lease expiration date. They would like to give 30 or 60 days notice, since they want their security and one months rent back. What is the best way to handle this so that they can get their money back? If it is an illegal apartment should they tell him? They checked with the local town planning and building dept and was told it is zoned for one family only. Should they tell him verbally or write a letter? Can they get their money back?

 

[mightymoose]

You won't get far with the illegal apartment argument.
If your friends intend to leave early they should inform the landlord of their intentions and try to come to an agreement. If your friends can help to find new tenants to move in right away so the landlord has no loss then they are more likely to get their deposits back.
However, in most cases like this the landlord (whether right or wrong) will feel entitled to keep everything and make the tenant jump through hoops to try to get anything back. From the scenario you describe, I suspect it will be tough to get those deposits without going to court, and even then the money may never be seen.

The best chance of seeing the money is to make nice with landlord and work things out. The landlord might appreciate them coming forward about their inability to pay the bills and not leaving the landlord hanging at the last minute.