breaking apt lease

does anyone have any experience with breaking an apt complex lease because of a break-up (which is due to domestic violence )?

breaking apt lease

I do this for a living....but it's best to contact your apartment management company and see what they will do to work with you.
The only legal way you may get out of your lease is if you need to be admitted into a full time care home.
So my advice is go straight to them and see what they will do for you for options...you might just lose your security, or you may be able to sub let...etc.

breaking apt lease

i broke my lease in my brooklyn apartment. my friend worked for the marshalls office and she said anyone can break a lease as long as you give 30 days written notice. i sent a certified letter to my building company saying i will be leaving and i plan to live out my security deposit. so there were no concerns if i'd get it back. i had no issues. good luck!

Message edited 10/11/2013 11:59:30 AM.

Re: breaking apt lease

thank you ladies, i will speak to the leasing department and see what they say.

Re: breaking apt lease

Message edited 10/11/2013 12:41:13 PM.

Re: breaking apt lease

Posted by jams92

really? we are looking into breaking our lease and spoke to a lawyer friend who told us it wasnt that easy to get out of a lease.
we called our leasing company and explained the situation and agreed to give 30 days notice. def call them directly and see what they will do for you
good luck

Re: breaking apt lease

Posted by ending-unwritten

Posted by jams92

really? we are looking into breaking our lease and spoke to a lawyer friend who told us it wasnt that easy to get out of a lease.
we called our leasing company and explained the situation and agreed to give 30 days notice. def call them directly and see what they will do for you
good luck

did you have to pay the remainder of the lease payments? or any type of fee?

breaking apt lease

I've broken a lease before due to DH getting laid off and needing to relocate. We needed to provide written notice, AND we were responsible for the rest of that month (which was already paid) AND the following month. So we gave notice in October that we would be moving out in November, and we had to pay for December's rent as well. At the time they said that if they could rent it and have the new leasees move in during December, they would reimburse for that portion of rent - but I don't think that ever happened.

FYI, we had just renewed our lease at the end of August.

Re: breaking apt lease

Re: breaking apt lease

You really have to read your lease. You can always break it, but you might still be liable for paying the rent through to the end of the lease. You will likely lose your security deposit if you do get out of the lease. And subletting is not always allowed.

Re: breaking apt lease

Re: breaking apt lease

I think the bottom line is there is no cut and dry answer.

I do a little bit of housing stuff on the side but on the social work end of things, and clients and their families frequently have this concern.

For the most part, the landlords I deal with are flexible, however they also know that 99% of the time, we could easily fill that apartment since housing is scarce for our clientele, and it's guaranteed rent for them since my peeps receive a subsidy. However, the apartments we deal with, most people on LIF are not going to be able to live in anyway (i.e. senior/disabled complexes).

I also have had clients in the past who lived in Fairfield units and they are the absolute worst in terms of fees and such. They will also drop a legal notice on you in a heartbeat and it's usually next to impossible to get them to sit down and work with you.

We don't really do business with them anymore as a result and for the most part, are priced out anyway, but that's another thread.

Message edited 10/15/2013 6:19:29 AM.

Re: breaking apt lease

P.S. Perhaps consult with Nassau-Suffolk Law Services. They have been helpful to speak with regarding landlord/tenant issues in the past for my low income/disabled clients.

They helped me draft a letter to get a landlord to stop bothering a client and I didn't even have to set foot in their office. They did it all over the phone/email.

Maybe also working with someone who deals with DV issues in general.

NSLS was free to work with.

Message edited 10/15/2013 6:18:39 AM.

Re: breaking apt lease

In my experience it is not easy to break a lease.... Years ago, I had re-signed my lease in June (new lease began July) BEFORE the new lease even began- I tried to break it....

I paid for 9 months for an apartment I didn't live in.... (we had some family matters; and moved into my inlaws to help out-while they were helping my SIL OOS) after 9 months a lawyer friend advised me to stop paying; and we ended up in court..

We never went before the judge and settled during mediation, BUT they kept my security and ultimately I was able to drop the last 2 months of the lease...

So; yes they got 10 months for a completely empty and CLEAN apartment

ETA: I think it has a lot to do with the leasing company, and given your situation HOPEFULLY your company will do the right thing and work with you!

Message edited 10/15/2013 8:01:26 AM.

Re: breaking apt lease

thank you all so much, i really appreciate all the information and advice!