Ending my lease early and my landlord keeping my security

[b*saint]

We are moving out of our leased home early due to extended family issues. We found a replacement tenant which he initially approved then a few days later changed his mind. So I asked him if he still wanted me to look for another tenant. This is what he said.

He will amend the lease allowing me to leave and the only penalty is to keep my security deposit. Im off the hook to getting it re rented out. He says he could come after me for the rest of the lease if so desired so he's actually cutting me a break. Does this sound right? To me it sounds fair, but I dont know if there was some other option I legally have. It was a fairly decent size security deposit. There was 6 months left on the lease. The house was leased in Ohio.

[Nick_S]

Yea man sounds about right. I mean you signed a year long lease (assuming) and are leaving half way through it. My brother (also in ohio) just did the same thing except they made him pay for an extra month. He left 5 months early.

[TimeMachinE30]

What does the paperwork say?

[mrsleeve]

yeah if the security is less than the 6 months rent ( I suspect it is) and hes willing to let you out of the lease with just keeping your Security, then I would take that amended paper work and run with it

[LEANE30]

Most leases explicitly outline clauses for these types of scenarios. Just follow what you signed. If this clause was omitted from the original contract then that is a bad contract, if you signed it without this, I bet next time you will make sure it is stated in the lease on your next rental.

Clauses in contracts are solely present in order to eliminate and gray area should something unexpected occur. A good contract is a comprehensive one that does not allow any one party to be surprised or caught off guard and taken advantage of by the other party. One month's rent is common in Colorado rental lease agreements. I paid one months rent but got my deposit back when we moved out of a rental 4 months early and bought our current house.

[Das Delfin]

yeah if the security is less than the 6 months rent ( I suspect it is) and hes willing to let you out of the lease with just keeping your Security, then I would take that amended paper work and run with it

[ak-]

ʇᴉ ɥʇᴉʍ unɹ puɐ ʞɹoʍ ɹǝdɐd pǝpuǝɯɐ ʇɐɥʇ ǝʞɐʇ plnoʍ I uǝɥʇ 'ʎʇᴉɹnɔǝS ɹnoʎ ƃuᴉdǝǝʞ ʇsnɾ ɥʇᴉʍ ǝsɐǝl ǝɥʇ ɟo ʇno noʎ ʇǝl oʇ ƃuᴉllᴉʍ sǝɥ puɐ (sᴉ ʇᴉ ʇɔǝdsns I ) ʇuǝɹ sɥʇuoɯ 9 ǝɥʇ uɐɥʇ ssǝl sᴉ ʎʇᴉɹnɔǝs ǝɥʇ ɟᴉ ɥɐǝʎ

[b*saint]

Thanks for the replies. There actually is no clause for it other than abandoning the property. It says he keeps everything thats left in it.

[kway]

Agreed, take it and run. I only had to break a lease once luckily; would have killed for a deal like that, believe me.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

My buddy just had to break his lease. The charged him 1800 to break it...

[ST1G]

yeah if the security is less than the 6 months rent ( I suspect it is) and hes willing to let you out of the lease with just keeping your Security, then I would take that amended paper work and run with it

[bumada]

Very surprised there's nothing in the lease about this. Usually you are obligated to pay out the lease or find another tenant. Losing the security deposit is a win in your case. It also reduces the risk on the landlord in rushing to find someone to take your place.

[McGyver]

The previous tenants who rented my apartment wanted to leave a month early, they lined me up for the place, all was good. They still had to pay for that last month by forfeiting their security deposit while I also paid for that last month.

Every lease I've seen says you lose your security deposit if you break the lease, just make sure you notify him (letter/email) that you intend to break the lease so he can't try to come after you for unpaid rent.

[Das Delfin]

[Stanley Rockafella]

burn it to the ground!!!