My boyfriend and I are relocating to another State because he has been transferred through his Job. I gave notice to the Apartment Management on Nov. 11th that our move out date would be December 28th. Understanding that our 6 month lease did not expire until the end of February, I assumed, and was told by Management, that we would be (unfortunately) responsible for rent until the experation date of the lease or until the apartment was rerented. On December 1st I paid the regular monthly rent and asked if it would be possible to extent my move out date until the 2nd week in January. The next day Management left a note on my door and also on my answering machine stating they could not extend the move out date because (to my relief) the apartment had been rerented for January 1st and the individuals were moving from out of state. I thought this was great because now I could move and not have to worry about paying rent here and in the new apartment I would be moving to, Therefore I would not need to stay another two weeks to work to pay the extra rent. I took action upon what the Management stated and wrote to me, gave notice to my employer, and rented a moving Truck to arrrive on the 27th I have also leased an apartment in the new state that I will be living in. On December 12th Management phoned me to tell me that the new tennents had canceled their move in, that they were moving not from out of state, but from and apartment downstairs, and that I would still be responsible for the rest of the lease, until February 28th. I don't think I should be responsible if thier rental agreement fell through, especially after I had acted upon their note. If I leave without paying the rest of the lease I am concerned about them reporting to a credit agency. Who is responsible here?

-- Christine Laska (alaska_ck@yahoo.com), December 19, 1999

Answers

Ultimately, you'll have to get a lawyer if you're not going to pay the rest of the money. It will go on your credit history. By obtaining a lawyer, they can advice you on actions you can take against the rental property (landlord). Also did the landlord put in writing the whole agreement concerning the people downstairs? If not, you could be in a bad situation. ALWAYS GET IT IN WRITING!

-- Freddy Monroe (motion123@dellnet.com), December 20, 1999.