Lease Termination Question

Psykus

Hello Help & Advice. Long time lurker, first time poster. (a LTLFTP!)

(for reference to any local/state laws that might cover this, I am in Raleigh, North Carolina)

So I have a one bedroom apartment that I leased for 10 months. The lease end date is coming up on July 21st, 2015 (49 days from today, June 2nd, 2015). I would rather not keep living here and was planning on moving out, and thought I had to give 30 days notice of moving out. I had been looking for new places to rent and was planning on giving my notice at the 30 day mark if I found something better.

Today I received an email about my lease renewal options. The shortest lease renewal option is 3 months and is $162 more than more than my existing rent. There is a month to month option where they charge me a $300 a month "month to month" fee on top of my existing rent. This is when I realize the notice I was supposed to give was actually 60 days and not 30 days.

However, upon reviewing my lease agreement, I see this section:

Lease wrote:

2. LEASE TERM, RENT, AND DISCOUNTS
A. Term of Agreement: The initial rental term ("initial rental term") of this Agreement shall begin and end on the dates set forth in Paragraph 1(B). At the end of the initial rental term, this Agreement shall be automatically renewed on a month-to-month basis under the same terms and conditions unless ONE of the following events occurs:
(1) You or We provide the other with a written notice of termination at least 60 days prior to the end of the initial rental term or at least 30 days prior to the end of any month-to-month term, OR
(2) We provide You with a written notice at least 60 days prior to the end of the initial rental term that any renewal term will be at a different stated monthly rent and/or with different stated terms and conditions ("new monthly terms") AND if within ten (10) days after receipt of Our notice. You provide Us with a written notice of termination effective at the end of the initial rental term. However, if you Fail to provide Us with written notice of termination within the aforementioned ten (10) day period, the term of this Agreement shall be renewed automatically on a month-to-month basis at the new monthly terms.

So specifically I noticed that this seems to say that the landlord was supposed to send me information about the new lease rates at least 60 days before my lease was supposed to end. (they sent it 49 days before) And if they didn't, that I should be allowed to continue renting at the same rate I was paying before, at least until the month after that rolls around? And in the meantime I could submit my vacating notice 30 days before the final moveout date since I would then be on a month to month rent, just at the same rate as before?

If anyone would like me to post more sections from the lease I can do that, or upload the whole thing after redacting personal information.

TL;DR: Supposed to give 60 day notice that I won't renew apartment lease. Landlord didn't send me new lease terms until 49 days before lease was supposed to end. Lease seems to say I can keep renting at current monthly rate if this happens??? Is my interpretation correct?

Veevee

Yeah, what that bit you quoted says to me is that 1) they broke their lease terms, but good luck having anything come of that, and 2) you have 10 days after receiving their notice about renewal options to say "lolnope" to their rent increase and have to vacate the unit by the end of lease.

The usual I'm not a lawyer, consult local authorities for best answer mumbo jumbo apply, but your interpretation appears to be 100% correct

Reverend_Chaos

Check your state laws, which supercede any contract, meaning that if the State of NC only requires a 30 day notice, than they cannot enforce a contract that states a greater number of days. It's not illegal to try and make you do what the contract states, it's just not enforcable in a court of law. (Otherwise slavery would be legal for anyone stupid enough to sign a contract making them a slave)

This does not mean that you cannot use their own contract against them in the mean time, telling them they did not give you adequate notice based on your agreement, and giving yourself another month, and allowing you to give a sixty day notice and not pay the higher rent.

Good luck

Kilgore Trout

From what I see, your interpretation is correct and at the end of the lease period you should automatically be month-to-month under the same terms because insufficient notice was provided of a rent increase and/or new terms.

IANAL, but legal research and prepare court filings for one. In my experience, once you have a dispute with your landlord, it's definitely time to get a new place.

If it hasn't been 10 days since they gave you the notice, just tell them you aren't renewing the lease and be ready to move by the end of the lease. If it has been more than 10 days and you want to keep within the confines of legal technicalities, I would recommend keeping all the paperwork that you have now (make copies if you have to) and sending a letter to the landlord telling them that:

1. They have provided insufficient notice of a rental increase or new month-to-month terms under the lease (provide dates);
2. Under the lease, you are automatically on a month-to-month basis under the same terms as before.

Once they have agreed that you are month-to-month (preferably in writing) give them your 30 days notice under the lease and get out of there. If they won't agree, go see a lawyer.

DevoutlyApathetic

Just what is quoted there, it says "New" month to month term so it seems like it'd be the new rate if they just go month to month and while 49 days is not 60 it is 30 days notice so I don't see how you argue about that since 30 is all that's needed for month to month changes.

Daenris

Psykus wrote: »

Today I received an email about my lease renewal options. The shortest lease renewal option is 3 months and is $162 more than more than my existing rent. There is a month to month option where they charge me a $300 a month "month to month" fee on top of my existing rent. This is when I realize the notice I was supposed to give was actually 60 days and not 30 days.

However, upon reviewing my lease agreement, I see this section:

Lease wrote:

2. LEASE TERM, RENT, AND DISCOUNTS
A. Term of Agreement: The initial rental term ("initial rental term") of this Agreement shall begin and end on the dates set forth in Paragraph 1(B). At the end of the initial rental term, this Agreement shall be automatically renewed on a month-to-month basis under the same terms and conditions unless ONE of the following events occurs:
(1) You or We provide the other with a written notice of termination at least 60 days prior to the end of the initial rental term or at least 30 days prior to the end of any month-to-month term, OR
(2) We provide You with a written notice at least 60 days prior to the end of the initial rental term that any renewal term will be at a different stated monthly rent and/or with different stated terms and conditions ("new monthly terms") AND if within ten (10) days after receipt of Our notice. You provide Us with a written notice of termination effective at the end of the initial rental term. However, if you Fail to provide Us with written notice of termination within the aforementioned ten (10) day period, the term of this Agreement shall be renewed automatically on a month-to-month basis at the new monthly terms.

So you don't actually say here, but if you renewed your lease for the same term you currently had (a year?), is the rent higher? If so, point (2) should apply and you'd be able to send them written notice of termination if it's been within 10 days, in which case you'd need to be out at the end of the lease. If the 1-year renewal rate (or whatever your current lease term is) isn't different, then (2) doesn't apply because the rent isn't different (unless there are also other changes to the lease terms, in which case it does apply again).