Landlord Not to Honor Notice of End of Lease

[jiodek]

Hello,

In late March, my landlord (an apartment mgmt company) posted notice that my lease would move to tenancy at will on the first day of April, about seven days later. As such, I made plans to move elsewhere and submitted a notice of intention to vacate within two weeks. The landlord responded with a notice that they had received my notice and quoted the early termination clause of my contract without mentioning a reason for quoting it. (I.e., they said we received your notice to move. Then they copy/pasted the clause.)

I checked my lease, and it is not set to expire for another two months. Is there anything I can do if I have made arrangements based on the management's notice that the lease would move to a tenancy at will by an earlier date?

I brought the issue to management's attention, and they have refused to address the issue.

 

[army judge]

You can tell them you made a mistake like they did.
You didn't mean you're moving in April, you meant June.

Otherwise, if they won't relent, I suppose you're stuck paying the early termination fee.

If it does go to court, your defense would be detrimental reliance.
Google the phrase and learn all about it.
The defense of detrimental reliance could be your saving grace.

 

[jiodek]

So is my best (only?) option is to avoid the early termination fee and just ride out the lease and suck up the rent? Granted, costs me less to do so, but paying double rent (i.e., for two different places) for a month isn't exactly the most enticing proposition ever.

Also, if I take possession of my other room while riding out the lease here, what is the minimum requirement to avoid the abandonment clause in my lease? Do I need to leave the gas and electric on? Just leave some belongings there and set foot in the building once a week?

 

[mightymoose]

I don't think you are stuck. Your original lease has you on the hook for two more months, but they have changed the lease. This is their error, not yours.

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

Even if you could wiggle out of your current lease citing that you now have a tenancy at will, Georgia requires a 30 day written notice on the part of the tenant (60 days for the landlord) to terminate such a lease.

Gail

 

[jiodek]

I can stay here for thirty days, as my original plans had me moving at the end of the first week of May, and that was the date I provided in my notice of intention to vacate.

I wasn't under the impression that providing notice that the lease moved to a tenancy at will actually changed the terms of the contract. (That seems like a dangerous implication, because then landlords could just change terms such as rent whenever they saw fit, right?)

 

[army judge]

I can stay here for thirty days, as my original plans had me moving at the end of the first week of May, and that was the date I provided in my notice of intention to vacate.

I wasn't under the impression that providing notice that the lease moved to a tenancy at will actually changed the terms of the contract. (That seems like a dangerous implication, because then landlords could just change terms such as rent whenever they saw fit, right?)

I learned many years ago in my army training not to pull the pin until you know you when and where you will throw the grenade.

 

[jiodek]

I learned many years ago in my army training not to pull the pin until you know you when and where you will throw the grenade.

AJ: I'm not sure to what you're referring.

 

[army judge]

AJ: I'm not sure to what you're referring.

I'm glad it worked out for you.

In the future, investigate things before you act.

Just because they sent you a letter, it might have been better to find out what they meant by sending you the letter.

In other words, don't act hastily or because others want you to act.

Always act in YOUR best interests.

 

[jiodek]

Oh, it hasn't worked out yet. I "can" (i.e., am able,) to stay for thirty days, as someone above had suggested. But that statement was predicated on a bunch of assumptions I'm not willing to make. (E.g., a notice effectively changes the terms of a contract.)

I agree that it would have been good for be to double-check the facts before I obligated myself to another apartment, but it seemed reasonable that, if my apartment complex issues a notice to such, I would have my lease switch to a tenancy at will on the date of the notice delivered to me.

Hopefully this will be resolved; I plan on going to speak to the complex manager again tomorrow. Last time, when I talked to her on the phone, she staunchly refused to do anything for me except charge me for moving out early. When I asked what my options were if I could not afford to make the payment at once, she replied, "No, I can't let you out of your lease early." I doubt I can make much more headway in person, but it's important to try and make communication as clear as possible with the management here.