Breaking a Lease (Oth'wise titled "Advice for the Francisco of Today & The Cream Soda of Tomorrow)

[Francisco]

So here's the situation:

Last late-August/early-September, three roommates and I signed a one-year lease. Three of us had already been living here since the summer of 2009 - and the fourth was a new addition.

In fact, the fourth was the reason one of the roommates insisted on a lease - to prevent a swift move-in/move-out structured around her school schedule. Basically, the one who wanted the lease was complaining she couldn't afford 1600 split three ways - and needed it to be split four ways.

The other roommate and I didn't care much for the idea of a lease, and were content with splitting the rent three ways. Still, we backed of, and just signed the damn thing.

Skip ahead to the end of March. The newest roommate moves out anyway. So the lease was basically worthless. The "I can't afford $1600/3" roommate immediately moves in an 18 year-old co-worker, without getting any input from me, my other roommate, or our landlord.

So basically, I'm pretty pissed at the situation, and my other roommate is having a full-on conniption. We've decided "fuck this" and we're looking for a 2 BR apartment.

Have yet to discuss with landlord or other roommates.

My current hope is to be moving out on June 1, and if that is the case - I'll leave a check for my share of the rent for June... but I have no intention of paying for July and August. The roommate I'm moving out with has basically agreed to be doing the same.

This is in Massachusetts.

- Can this fuck up my credit?

- Is this something likely to go to court?

- If the landlord keeps his house like absolute shit, and I take pictures - is that justifiable to break a lease? (porch roof literally caving in, rotted out exterior wood abound, holes in the house with bird nests inside... I can hear fucking birds in the wall...)

- Otherwise, I mean... just fuck it, right? Best case, nothing happens. Worst case, I lose $800 in court... right?

Edit to add: Can anyone on BG loan me $80,000 to cover my impending court costs and an iron lung for my cancer-striken goat that I sodomize nightly?

[miokomioko]

Your best bet is to make some formal complaints about the condition of the dwelling, then when they don't get around to fixing it, use that as legal grounds to break the lease. If they have any brains, they'll realize that their lack of repairs was in violation of the contract and not put up a fight.

If not, and if you really want your deposit back, you'll probably have to go to small claims and show them your formal requests for the repairs which were ignored.

[Monkor]

http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cissfsn/sfsnidx.htm

The owner is responsible for insuring that the foundation, floors, walls, doors, windows, ceilings, roof, staircases, porches, chimney and other structural elements of the dwelling do not admit rain or snow and that they are rodent-proof, watertight, in good repair and fit for the intended use. The owner must also keep the structural elements free from holes, cracks, loose plaster or other defects where such defects make the dwelling difficult to clean or may cause an accident or constitute an insect or rodent haven. [410.500]

I'm sure if you complain and they refuse to fix the building falling apart, they're in violation of rental codes and that would be grounds to break the lease.

[miokomioko]

First things first: take lots of pictures.

[Chips]

I think it's sad that you're suggesting to take it out on the landowner when they're in no way in the wrong. They signed the lease, and it should be up to them to honour it. Go after the two roommates that bailed, they're the ones that are responsible for this (as long as they've each signed the lease as well).

[zoobernut]

If you are trying to be the CS of tomorrow don't forget to poop in your yard.

[kinghippo]

I had a similar thing happen to me. My roommate dropped out of school (he was on the lease) and moved back home halfway through the lease. I took it to small claims and the judge billed him for his half of the rent i had to pay since he bailed which ended up being like 4 grand. The 4 grand was his half of the rent times however many months were left on the lease when he left and some for utilities.

[Francisco]

I'm not really going after the landlord in any of this - but I will take pictures. Heck, I'll share some here when I get unlazy.

When we moved in, and even signed the last lease - the house was shitty - but it's gotten rapidly shittier... two sinks just constantly run water, and he doesn't seem worried about it (literally, his money down the drain) at all. Roommate suspects he tampered with the water meter to avoid the cost, as a ton of weird shit happened with our water all at once.

If you are trying to be the CS of tomorrow don't forget to poop in your yard.

I should clarify. I meant that my current situation is what CS will upgrade to. I am a look into CS's future, not becoming CS.

Besides, we're both bros.

And by bros, I mean MNKs.

[aurik]

Uh if I'm reading this right...
Roomates A,B,C,D agree a year lease to split a place, $400ea/mo.
After 8 months, D bails.
Roommate C finds person E to take D's place to offset the $400/mo deficit in rent
Roommates B and A flip their shit and want to bail as of June 1st?

Sounds like B and A should chill the fuck out and deal with things like reasonable human beings. Talk to C: is E really that disagreeable? Can you negotiate another arrangement (find another person, or perhaps split the rent 3-ways unevenly like 500/550/550 instead of 533 each)?

In reality ALL of the people on the lease are responsible to the landlord. So yes, if you guys stopped paying rent he could take all 4 of you to court together to force you to fulfill your end of the contract you signed. If you got a judgment against you that would hurt your credit. He can also attempt to sell the debt directly to a collection agency, but you always have the right to assert that you don't owe the debt (at which point they will need a court order to enforce it and will probably drop the issue); this will hurt your credit score.

Is it likely to go to court? Probably not, if he's a slum lord. His tenants are probably pretty destitute, he's probably learned that you can't squeeze blood from a stone. Might send scary phone calls your way, but if you ignore them you're probably good. Or, at the worst, you might be able to negotiate after the fact, ie if he says you owe him $800 for your share the last 2 months just tell him you'll pay $400, he might take that if he thinks that's the best he'll be able to do.

Question 3, yes. Document everything, make formal requests for maintenance, then bail. If he takes you to court, just bring up the dilapidated state of the housing as your reason for leaving. You'll win.

[vagus]

Whoever is on the original lease, the property manager will have to track them down. It's not your responsibility. However, if you decided to sub-lease the room without the owner's knowledge. Then you're responsible for that part of the rent. If a person bails, you should have contacted the owner asap.

I'm a property manager myself. I have 10 properties which i manage. I always get the tenants to sign a lease or some type of legal agreement. I don't know the laws in your state, but in Canada renters have rights as well. If the property is as horrible as you state it is, take a lot of pictures and get the property owner to fix the problems. If he refuses to fix them, take him to small claims court and get him to fix it. You could try to get out of the lease, but you'd have setup another case.

You can easily decide to break your lease. There is a chance that the owner may avoid all the trouble and not track you down in small claims court.

[aurik]

Also check your PMs regarding an exciting opportunity to work from home for $80,000 a month.

[kyod]

Even if you all move out, all four of the original people on the lease are responsible for rent for the stated terms. If your apartment is in horrible condition (that you didn't cause), like others have said, document it, take pictures, and ask the landlord to fix these items (they have to be issues that affect your quality of life, a leaking sink really isn't grounds for breaking your lease...). If he doesn't fix them in a reasonable amount of time (after you send him letters via certified mail), then you can take him to court and get your lease broken. But that whole process can take a month or more.

Talk to your roommates about this entire situation. Sit everyone down and actually talk about this stuff. I guarantee your landlord will drag you to small claims court if you run out on the rent.

[tyven]

keep living there, you are currently paying the cheapest rent ever

[Mizango]

u bout 2 b pore

[Francisco]

I have since moved out... Went from paying 400 (1600 / 4) to 650 (1300 / 2)...

Previous place: decrepit shithole, 5 people (one freeloading boyfriend), 1 bathroom...

New place: nice building, 2 people, 2 bathrooms, remodeled kitchen...

Previous landlord wants to meet with me, old roommates and the roommate I moved out with to discuss the lease, stating, "I'm not going to get the shitty end of this deal".

I basically have no plans to contact him any further, and have pics as ammo if he tries to harass us for the last 3 months of the lease. Pretty sure I could have the place condemned if I wanted.

[Francisco]

Exhibit A: lower front porch...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...x/936f3e5e.jpg

That white post is supposed to be a support for the upper front porch. I'd say its days are numbered.

I can post more later.

[Acevalefor]

I have since moved out... Went from paying 400 (1600 / 4) to 650 (1300 / 2)...

Previous place: decrepit shithole, 5 people (one freeloading boyfriend), 1 bathroom...

New place: nice building, 2 people, 2 bathrooms, remodeled kitchen...

Previous landlord wants to meet with me, old roommates and the roommate I moved out with to discuss the lease, stating, "I'm not going to get the shitty end of this deal".

I basically have no plans to contact him any further, and have pics as ammo if he tries to harass us for the last 3 months of the lease. Pretty sure I could have the place condemned if I wanted.

If you can, find out if there is a HUD program in your state and report the conditions to them along with the pictures. That way, there is a paper trail that shows you were and are aware of your rights and you now have the backing of a state agency.

[kyod]

I have since moved out... Went from paying 400 (1600 / 4) to 650 (1300 / 2)...

Previous place: decrepit shithole, 5 people (one freeloading boyfriend), 1 bathroom...

New place: nice building, 2 people, 2 bathrooms, remodeled kitchen...

Previous landlord wants to meet with me, old roommates and the roommate I moved out with to discuss the lease, stating, "I'm not going to get the shitty end of this deal".

I basically have no plans to contact him any further, and have pics as ammo if he tries to harass us for the last 3 months of the lease. Pretty sure I could have the place condemned if I wanted.

Just to warn you, unless you alerted him to the problems and have proof that you did alert him (certified letters, emails), just having pictures won't get you out of your remaining payments on the lease should he choose to take you to small claims court (Unless the issue was literally life-threatening and you had to move out ASAP).

You have to show you tried to get him to fix problems and he refused. He could just claim that you never notified him so how was he supposed to know. Which, in that case, you and the others on the lease are screwed.