Breaking a Lease Landlord offered to release me from lease in writing. Now says no.

[ESpringer]

My one year lease with the homeowners will end on 1/31/2013. In May of 2013, the landlord offered me the opportunity to leave with a full refund of my deposit as we had issues around their not paying the water bill for two months prior to my move in. The impact was water being turned off. No decision date or move date was ever discussed or put into writing. In September, the landlord wrote me with the same offer, but this time they clarified their terms. I was to just let them know and would receive a full return of my security deposit based on a clean move out.

Two weeks ago I sent them my requested move out date. They have now said that they will not honor their two written offers.

I have no confidence that I will ever see my deposit back and have reason to believe that they are in financial trouble.

How can I get out of here without any future threats or impact to my credit rating?

Help needed at this point.

 

[mightymoose]

When you move out be sure to clean thoroughly. Allow for an opportunity for the landlord to do a walkthrough prior to your handing over the keys. Fix whatever the landlord points out in the walkthrough and take photos of everything, inside and outside, when done.
You are responsible for cleaning and repairs that are beyond ordinary wear and tear.
If the landlord still tries to keep your deposit your option will be small claims court. The landlord will have to show receipts for repairs made and justify any deductions from the deposit.
Make sure you give the landlord a forwarding address when you hand over the keys.
You aren't entitled to your deposit until 2-3 weeks after you move out, depending on the laws in your state. I think 21 days is the norm.

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

In Georgia this would be one month after the move out. However, I'm getting the idea that the offer for the early move out was premised for May and September of 2013 and NOT November and that the landlords may not be honoring these offers at all.

Gail