How to Get Out of a Lease
If you are a tenant and you want or need to get out of a lease, you need to make sure you understand several things.
- The locale, city or county in which your property is located is the most important aspect. Many jurisdictions are very landlord friendly and you need to know if that is the case. In Richmond, Va most of the judges and courts are extremely landlord friendly, unless the tenant can properly document abuse by landlord.
- Documentation is key. If you do not have written and photographic documentation, then you can forget it. A judge will dismiss your complaint immediatly. Simply having andectotal evidence or hear say, will not hold up.
- Relationship with your Property Manager or Landlord. If you are on good terms, meaning you pay rent on time, don’t bounce checks and report maintenance problems appropriately, you are in a better postion.
Your first approach should be to ask the property manager if you can be released from your lease early. Typically, if you are a good tenant, this will not be a problem. They may ask you to help sublet the property or to pay for the cost of advertising or to give up your deposit, but usually if they are a reputable company they will allow you to do this.
If you are a tenant in a property that the landlord is not taking care of maintenance or repair issues, then you need to start with a proactive approach. Document the problem in writing and send it by Certified Mail. Email is great, if you can use it, but you should always use Certified Mail. Then, you should offer to coordinate the repair yourself. Tell your landlord, you will find a good plumber, etc and you will coordinate having them come over to the place and get a quote. Usually this will go over well, as the landlord will see that you are trying to be helpful. Make sure you get the owner or landlords permission and do not offer to pay the contractor out of pocket! Make sure you have the quote sent to the landlord or owner first. If you have a property manager who is managing the property, offer to be available to let the repair person or contractor into the property.
If you do this and still you can not get repairs made, you may need to take more aggressive steps. First, make sure you are being reasonable about the repair request. Asking for something to be repainted, or demanding that someone come over on the same day as your call, when it is a non-emergency, is not reasonable. Second, make sure You did not cause the repair. If you broke a window or a door or garbage disposal, then you are responsible for that repair.
Once you have established that you have done everything you can to try to get action in a friendly, non-confrontational or aggressive way, then you can proceed. But, I will warn you, the saying “you get more bees with honey, than with vingar” is so true when dealing with a landlord or property manager. Always be polite and friendly and reasonable. They are not your servants. You ARE Their Guest. Just remember that. But, if they are not taking care of the problem, then you do have rights.
First, check with your local housing authority or court clerk to see if their is a proper way to bring a compliant against a landlord. In Richmond, we have the state Real Estate Board and the local association of Realtors that can be a good source. If this avenue does not work, you may have to make the repair yourself. Send a Certified Letter stating that you are going to fix the repair yourself and make the repair using a professional contractor. In the letter, give the contractors name and the estimate of the work. If you have the written quote, that is great, and you should include a copy in your letter. Notify the landlord that if nothing is done by a certain date you will make the repair and pay for it yourself. Then send another letter with the reciept asking to be reimbursed. Every month that goes by without reimbursement, send a letter asking for payment. DO NOT STOP PAYING RENT. In most states this is a violation of your lease. Personally, if you were not able to get action through your local agencies, I would deduct the amount of the repair from the rent. But, that’s just me. Most of the time nothing is going to happen. You probably have a really slack landlord, hence your problems, and they are not going to do anything. If they withhold your security deposit at the end of your lease, you can file a small claims suit against them and show all your documention. You will probably win, if you were acting in a reasonable fashion. BUT, ALWAYS, I repeat ALWAYS seek local legal advise, before you do anything! They will know your local laws better than anyone.
