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Breaking a lease
Erandus
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I need some advice on how to try to extricate myself from a lease that I have 4 months left on. I live in Iowa, but I'm not 100% sure of the laws surrounding this for my state. We rent from an independent landlord, not any sort of rental company.
My wife and I originally signed into this lease in Feb of 2008. We have been living in the house for right at 20 months. At the time we signed into the lease, we signed a 2 year agreement predicated on the landlord installing air conditioning in the house, which he did about 3 months after we moved in.
Earlier this month, we decided to buy a house down the street from us. It's an awesome house, and we love it. But we still have time left on our lease, and we're not sure how to go about getting out of it without buying out the remaining months. We will be closing on the new house on the end of October (assuming of course we go through with it, but we were pre approved so nothing is really standing in the way). At that time, there will be 3 months left on the lease.
The house we're living in currently does have some problems, the worst of which is the water. We "share" water with the small apartment attached to the back of the house. There is only 1 water bill, which we are responsible for. There is only 1 water heater. The girl who rents the back apartment has a live-in boyfriend who is not on their lease. Technically he shouldn't be staying there. He gets up about an hour before we do in the morning and immediately takes a 45 minute shower. When we get up there is about 3 minutes of hot water left for us and two kids to use. This naturally doesn't work too well.
There are lots of other nagging issues with the house. Prior to signing the lease it was agreed that air conditioning would be installed before the first summer, and in exchange we would sign a 2 year lease. It was installed, but it has been very flakey, often failing to turn on for hours or even a couple days at a time. We discovered that there was a valve of some sort that had been recalled by the manufacturer. We kept telling the landlord about it, and it wasn't fixed for well over a month. The actual recalled part has still never been replaced, they just exchanged the thermostat panel in the house, assuring us that was the problem. As recently as last week, it is still having issues kicking on.
We also had problems with plumbing leaks (which are fixed but the landlord tried to get us to organize with a plumber to fix it, rather than do it himself. Plus it took a year), and electrical problems (there are several non working outlets and switches in the house which we mentioned almost immediately after moving in, but still are unaddressed).
Is this the sort of thing that we can use to successfully break out of a lease? I am pretty sure landlords are required to provide things such as hot water, and we aren't getting it, or at least nearly enough. Our landlord isn't a bad guy, he just seems a bit lazy and I know he doesn't have a lot of money to throw at fixing the issues, but that's not really our problem.
I really dont want to end up paying 3 months rent to bail on this. There is a security deposit involved, but I dont really care if I get it. I can only assume he can take us to small claims court should he feel inclined to go after the remaining rent. The leftover rental period is extremely short, making subletting unlikely but I can still offer to try.
What say you all? Do I have a case to slide out from under the remaining rent?
My wife and I originally signed into this lease in Feb of 2008. We have been living in the house for right at 20 months. At the time we signed into the lease, we signed a 2 year agreement predicated on the landlord installing air conditioning in the house, which he did about 3 months after we moved in.
Earlier this month, we decided to buy a house down the street from us. It's an awesome house, and we love it. But we still have time left on our lease, and we're not sure how to go about getting out of it without buying out the remaining months. We will be closing on the new house on the end of October (assuming of course we go through with it, but we were pre approved so nothing is really standing in the way). At that time, there will be 3 months left on the lease.
The house we're living in currently does have some problems, the worst of which is the water. We "share" water with the small apartment attached to the back of the house. There is only 1 water bill, which we are responsible for. There is only 1 water heater. The girl who rents the back apartment has a live-in boyfriend who is not on their lease. Technically he shouldn't be staying there. He gets up about an hour before we do in the morning and immediately takes a 45 minute shower. When we get up there is about 3 minutes of hot water left for us and two kids to use. This naturally doesn't work too well.
There are lots of other nagging issues with the house. Prior to signing the lease it was agreed that air conditioning would be installed before the first summer, and in exchange we would sign a 2 year lease. It was installed, but it has been very flakey, often failing to turn on for hours or even a couple days at a time. We discovered that there was a valve of some sort that had been recalled by the manufacturer. We kept telling the landlord about it, and it wasn't fixed for well over a month. The actual recalled part has still never been replaced, they just exchanged the thermostat panel in the house, assuring us that was the problem. As recently as last week, it is still having issues kicking on.
We also had problems with plumbing leaks (which are fixed but the landlord tried to get us to organize with a plumber to fix it, rather than do it himself. Plus it took a year), and electrical problems (there are several non working outlets and switches in the house which we mentioned almost immediately after moving in, but still are unaddressed).
Is this the sort of thing that we can use to successfully break out of a lease? I am pretty sure landlords are required to provide things such as hot water, and we aren't getting it, or at least nearly enough. Our landlord isn't a bad guy, he just seems a bit lazy and I know he doesn't have a lot of money to throw at fixing the issues, but that's not really our problem.
I really dont want to end up paying 3 months rent to bail on this. There is a security deposit involved, but I dont really care if I get it. I can only assume he can take us to small claims court should he feel inclined to go after the remaining rent. The leftover rental period is extremely short, making subletting unlikely but I can still offer to try.
What say you all? Do I have a case to slide out from under the remaining rent?
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Erandus on
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Why not talk to your landlord and see if you could sublet the apartment? If you can't find someone at the price you're currently paying you could even look at subsidizing part of the cost. Your landlord might also be able to find a tenant.
I don't have any idea how flexible he's going to feel like being. I can try to sublet, but I live in a tiny, tiny town.
The most hassle-free option for you is to get the landlord to allow you to assign the lease to a new renter, which basically means that you transfer the lease to them. You want to avoid sub-letting, because then you basically become the landlord for the new renter.
I "could" rent out the new house, but for 4 months...? Plus I want to move into it. :P
I mean, he is probably going to be a little worse off here seeing as how the rents were likely a bit higher when you signed the lease.
I would honestly be fine forfeiting the entire security deposit in exchange for an amiable break of the lease.
You can lock your interest rate for however long you need to if you're concerned about rates changing. Should be much cheaper than paying double (if that be the end result of this).
This isn't legal pretty much anywhere. He can't force you to pay for your neighbors utilities. I'm surprised you put up with this for so long. Iowa's website sucks for finding info out so I'd suggest calling the state housing board and seeing what advice they have.
No you can't. In Canada you can lock it in for 3 months but, beyond that, it will go up. I'm sure it must be the same in the States as well.
Not your lawyer, etc...
It depends on the lender.
OP: Just tell your landlord that it isn't working out. Don't tell him that you've purchased a house 4 months too early and want out of your lease. Tell him that your living conditions aren't meeting your expectations, and stress the part about the problems with the shared water heater.
You might want to call up your local housing tribunal/council and find out if that is legal. If it isn't, you can tell your landlord,
"I understand that the current water heater situation in this house is not exactly legal, but I'm not interested in the stress of going to court over this. I would much rather just give you my notice to vacate on X DATE (make this a week after your new house's possession date). I need a more acceptable environment for my family."
I didn't get a chance to call my landlord tonight, but it's on my list for tomorrow after I follow up on Figgy's suggestions. I appreciate all the advice here, thank you all.