Lease termination advice

Hi We need to end our lease and offered to stay until new tenants are found. We also offered to pay for any rent differential. Our landlord seemed amenable but then listed the apartment for $500 more than what we area paying, making the apartment more difficult to rent. This guy is a shark and already has our last month and security. He made us pay for repainting the apartment (some walls were darker colors from the previous tenant) and we asked for white. On the day of the lease signing, we were told that he wanted post dated checks. In retrospect, we should have backed out but we were in a bind. So now we need to move, and again this guy is milking us again. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

eastview

in Landlord 11 years and 3 months ago

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ventilated | 11 years and 3 months ago

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Is your LL a shark? Hard to tell from your post. But if your building has more than 3 units, then your LL is required to paint every 3 years and the cost of repainting after alterations by previous tenants should not have been on you. For plain English description, see: http://www.brickunderground.com/blog/2012/11/rent_coach_how_often_is_my_landlord_required_to_paint_my_apartment The lease is a contract between LL and tenant. As to post-dated checks, so what? The important date and terms are those on your lease. If the post-dated checks are for dates far in the future, you can always stop payment on the checks now. Lots of LLs write onerous clauses restricting roommates, subleasing, etc. If those paragraphs are in conflict with existing law, then the paragraphs are not enforceable. There’s lots online about this topic. Or, for more information, try: http://cwtfhc.org/for-tenants/

Putnamdenizen | 11 years and 3 months ago

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Under the law you are responsible for all rent to the end of the lease period. Sounds like you tried to negotiate surrendering the apartment early but the landlord declined. Have you asked him if you can sublease the apartment yourselves? Some leases allow for that. Perhaps you can check in with him and see if he is getting any takers at the new rent. Perhaps you want to see if he will accept a lump sum payment to allow you to buy yourselves out of the lease. You’ve given no indication of how much time is left on the lease, so it’s unclear if you just moved in or have a few months left on your lease. Honestly the rest of what you recount doesn’t make him sound like a “shark.” He was under no obligation to repaint the apartment to your taste at his expense. Not even sure what your complaint on the post-dated checks is. Most landlords have last month and security. Really hard to see how he is “milking” you.