Lease break. 2 months left on lease.

It may pay to just stay the 2 months? and get back sec?

I think you will have to eat the fee or the 2 months rent, whichever is less. Remember, you did sign a contract, which you now want to break, so I guess you should be the one to sustain the loss, not the landlord.

>so I guess you should be the one to sustain the loss, not the landlord.

Why do you assume that there is any loss to face? He says he's paying below market. Landlord can go out and find a new tenant at a higher rate ... something that it would do anyway in 2 months. RENY, why are you an anti-tenant jerk? Does it make you feel good?

See if you can negotiate one month. You have no legal recourse but to pay the remaining.

Landlord is obviously trying to make extra money but there is nothing wrong with that.

We might need a temporary rental because we are closing on our current condo shortly & need a few months to get into something else - please privately email me. Lynn@AFineLyne.com Thank you.

Greens: Why are you an anti-landlord jerk?

You signed a contract. You need to live up to it, or pay a penalty.

Why is this so hard to understand?

Landlord obviously has no moral or legal right to take your money when it will suffer no loss.

It would be polite to offer to allow showings before you leave if they release you from the lease.

If they refuse, sue in small claims court for return of deposit. Small claims court is easy; no lawyer needed. You will win if you have not caused any injury. If you are lucky, you may even get a judge who takes the rules about misuse of deposits seriously and might award punitive damages. In any event, it will cost the landlord enough attorney's fees that they may think twice about this kind of sleazy shenanigans in the future.

"Landlord obviously has no moral or legal right to take your money when it will suffer no loss."

Landlord will rent to a new tenant at current market rate and it will take at least 2 months to find a credit worthy tenant. Hence current tenant will be responsible for the rent or penalty.

I can't believe I am agreeing with NYCMatt, but he is right on this one.

If the landlord wanted to break your lease 2 months early, you'd be screaming bloody murder.

"Landlord obviously has no moral or legal right to take your money when it will suffer no loss."

One cannot see into the future. It's all speculation.

Bottom line: Penalties must be paid if you don't live up to your end of the contract.

Also, I love when people make the argument that the LANDLORD would potentially benefit from an under-market tenant leaving early. It's fine, of course, for the under-market tenant to cling to that contract to essentially screw the landlord out of a potential better rent over the course of the lease, but it's NOT fine for the landlord to hold those tenants to the terms of that lease when THEY find a better living situation for themselves.

Check your lease to see what the policy is for showing the apartment for future renters at the end of the term of the lease. Go to the landlord, tell him your situation and stress that you know your obligation (to pay full term of lease) and that you plan to abide by it. However, ask him if you are willing to go well beyond the terms of apartment showings defined in your lease --- very tidy apt, last minute showings, etc-- would they release you from the lease if they were able to show it and rent it immediately. The landlord will certainly understand that he can make more if he rents it again at the new market rates and it will be implied that you could make apartment showings difficult when your lease does come to term if the landlord does not agree to your suggestion.

Remember that you have a legal obligation to pay to term. The ball is in landlord's court. Be cordial and amenable to any suggestions landlord

Asking LL to let you out of the lease as soon as they find another tenant is one reasonable approach. The LL has a minor incentive to try to do so (more rent) against minor incentive not to do so (June 1 tenancy). Realistically, your wanting out w/ 2 weeks notice is not great and you need to plan on eating half or one month's rent even if the LL does play nice.

So definitely ask the LL to see if they can find a tenant earlier, you'd leave as soon as they do, but make it clear you are not abandoning the apt.

In the meantime, put an ad on craigslist in the sublet section with at 25% below the rate you are paying. If you are correct about your rent being under-market by 20%, then by putting it at 60% of market price you're likely to attract a sublettor with such short notice and only eat 2 weeks of rent. There are lots of people looking for something temporary, you just need to make your place too attractive to pass up.

bust a deal, face the wheel.

Forget small claims court, there's a $5000 limit. You will have to go to big court.

>financeguy
about 3 hours ago
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>Landlord obviously has no moral or legal right to take your money when it will suffer no loss.

>It would be polite to offer to allow showings before you leave if they release you from the lease.

>If they refuse, sue in small claims court for return of deposit. Small claims court is easy; no lawyer needed. You will win if you have not caused any injury. If you are lucky, you may even get a judge who takes the rules about misuse of deposits seriously and might award punitive damages. In any event, it will cost the landlord enough attorney's fees that they may think twice about this kind of sleazy shenanigans in the future.

There have been several occasions on which I agree with the sentiment of financeguy, but when it comes to facts, he spews meaningless drivel giving people false hope. The Small Claims Court doesn't even have jurisdiction to award punitive damages.

>NYCMatt
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>Also, I love when people make the argument that the LANDLORD would potentially benefit from an under-market tenant leaving early. It's fine, of course, for the under-market tenant to cling to that contract to essentially screw the landlord out of a potential better rent over the course of the lease, but it's NOT fine for the landlord to hold those tenants to the terms of that lease when THEY find a better living situation for themselves.

Another unnecessarily pro-landlord asshole. Your whole point is that the landlord gets to spite you. Well NYCMatt, what if the tenant is gay? Then are you ok with it?

If you are breaking a contract, you should expect to pay for it.

DO NOT list your apartment and stat looking for a new tenant without cleaning it with the LL.I t is not your space to rent beyond your lease term.

I'm amazed at the number of people treating the OP as if he is being dishonest.

i'm amazed at the number of people who treat you as a real poster.

One can only imagine the Medieval treatment that a lease breaker would receive in C0lumbia C0unty. I could imagine CC, NYCMatt, and PH41 all holding hands screaming to see if the lease breaker would float or drown.

and of course you are basing this on?

I was in the exact same situation and successfully broke my lease about two months early, with the incoming tenant signing a brand new, 12-month lease (true no-fee situation).

I took quality pictures and listed the apartment as a true no-fee listing on Craigslist. I showed it all week and had several interested parties, with three separate people saying they wanted to take the apartment. One guy eventually signed the lease directly with the landlord (paying $200 higher than our rent) and all worked out.

We obviously discussed the situation with our landlord and they gave us clearance prior to us showing the place. We just basically said "if we can deliver you a qualified tenant to sign the lease at $X, would that be ok?" and they said yes. We told them our situation of needing to break the lease because of X reasons, and we told him we have quality friends who would be interested. We were dealing with a larger landlord, a corporation.

The Craigslist ad received a lot of interest and I had to be flexible to show the apartment. Good listing photos were key, I believe. This was for a one-bedroom with a decent layout in the West Village with no fee, so I believe it would have sold itself. But it was January when we did this. Given March is busier time, you may have even better luck that we did. Your mileage may vary depending on the unit and location.

I will add that getting permission from the landlord was only half the battle. Finding a new tenant can be a challenge and you should use everything at your disposal to ensure you market the apartment appropriately.

No-fee is a key, primary selling point and I'd stress that in the ad. Also good listing photos are key to catch people's eye, and I even created a floorplan and used it with the listing. Rapid email response is also crucial, as is follow-up. Try to pre-screen tenants for financial qualification before you show them the unit: if they are already renting in the city, that is a good sign as they are likely familiar with all the income requirements and so forth.

As a landlord I find Tomnevers' solution to be reasonable. I agree to similar deals with my tenants.

On a monthly basis I have tenants leave their apartments early (by a month. They leave in the middle of the night. So what am I to do? I turn the account over to an attorney and if I am ever able to collect any of the money the attorney takes half. Sure I trash the tenants' credit but often they are leaving the City because they lost their job and their credit is bad anyway. These tenants cost me thousands upon thousands, and add headache after headache.

SO ..... in situations like the above (where the vacating tenant wants to protect his credit score) I feel that it's completely reasonable for me to hold tenants to the contract that we both signed. I also feel it's reasonable to rent the apartment as soon as possible and collect rent from two people at the same time for the same apartment.

The landlord's "duty to mitigate" means that if someone left early that the landlord had the obligation to find a tenant as soon as possible and if a new tenant was found then the vacating tenant was no longer on the hook for any damages. Fortunately, courts are moving away from requiring landlords to mitigate damages and tenants are on the hook for the full term of their leases, even if the landlord finds a new tenant right away.

jazz: if a tenant is paying the rent as per his contract, you cannot collect rent from another tenant.

I agree with apt23, you can't be collecting two rents.

But you say, on the one hand:
>As a landlord I find Tomnevers' solution to be reasonable. I agree to similar deals with my tenants.
and then
>SO ..... in situations like the above (where the vacating tenant wants to protect his credit score) I feel that it's completely reasonable for me to hold tenants to the contract that we both signed.

Can you clarify?

By the way Tomnevers, you did a good job of showing how easy it is for any layperson to be a rental broker. Calling Jim Hores, Calling Jim Hores ... angry rebuttal required.

im looking for a short term rental through June 30th. What is the location? How many beds?

greensdale - sorry for the ambiguity. If a tenant approaches me and brings me a reasonable replacement tenant at a reasonable rentable rate, I will accept the replacement. In situations where they don't offer an acceptable replacement then I hold firm to the contract.

Collecting double rents comes via collections. If someone vacates with say 6 months left on their lease and stops paying rent, the law allows me to re-rent the vacant apartment and go after the vacating tenant for 6 months worth of rent plus any other fees agreed upon in the lease. Thus collecting 2 rents.

I've never had a situation where the tenant moves out and still pays the rent on a vacant apartment for more than a month or so. I guess it happens, but if there is a couple months or more left on the lease generally the vacating tenant will work out a lease break fee.

I would contact the landlord or management company to see what the procedure is and if they can let you off any hook of a penalty for allowing access times to your apartment for viewings.

I think a bigger question would be what happens if there are 6 months left.

Also is the a difference if it is your first or second year or if it is your say 4th or more year.

Does it matter if there was a broker involved.

http://ownyourhome.streeteasy.com/how-to-break-your-lease-and-get-your-security-deposit-back-a-nyc-tenants-guide/

Just reading this thread for the first time, but my understanding is that landlords can't do what Jazzman is suggesting: collecting rent twice for the same apartment.

IANAL, but I believe in NY, the landlord doesn't have a duty to mitigate (i.e., they don't have to try and find a new tenant and can just let the apartment sit empty), but once a new tenant is in place there's no more damages under the previous lease and so the former tenant is off the hook. In other words, in OP's situation if a new tenant came into the apartment in May, OP would owe only one month's rent to the landlord rather than two.

This kind of thing bothers me, because its a WIN-WIN situation that's turned into a LOSE-LOSE.
The landlord will make more money by renting at market rate; and they're choosing not to. At the very least, they should have the courtesy to give the current tenant a number at which they would renew the lease at and then allow the tenant to find someone to sublet for the remaining 2 months with the option of the renew-rate.

The renter should abide by the contract or pay the penalties... this is so clear-cut and simple it isn't even funny.

Just take some snazzy pix and put the apt on AirBnB.
Rent it out for a few nights and you'll make your two months' rent.

Yes, it's illegal. But what's the worst that can happen? If the LL catches you (very unlikely, unless you have a doorman) you'll pay a small fine. Better than paying 2 months for an apartment you don't want!

Btw Abington props... ugh! hated dealing w/those guys when I was a RE agent..

Not gonna happen in an easy fashion

A lot of great points on here.

I recently was renting out a property I own and the person wanted to break the lease. My human instinct was to be accommodating and I offered for him to stay until I found someone else but then of course the ball was in my court, with my timing. And obviously I was not as incented as he was to find someone else but I did find someone very fast.

The other suggestion would be to try leasebreak.com to find someone to take over your lease.

>The other suggestion would be to try leasebreak.com to find someone to take over your lease.

If web sites are acceptable, why not just let him use airbnb to rent it out as a short term hotel?

"If web sites are acceptable, why not just let him use airbnb to rent it out as a short term hotel?"

Well, I think airbnb is more when you are renting something out for a few nights or weeks (more like a hotel, as you suggest). Leasebreak.com is more when you have let's say three months left on your lease, and the landlord is allowing you to get someone take over your lease. You use leasebreak.com to help find the three month sublettor. So I think they serve different markets, you know?