Hi,
I was in a lease agreement for 14 months with my former community. My lease stated I needed a 60 day notice before vacating. My lease was up May 4, 2009, and I turned in my notice on April 1, 2009. I moved on April 24th, and turned in my keys on May 4th. I agreed to pay rent through the end of my lease term, however, with the cost of moving I told the assistant manager that it would be late. The assistant manager was gone when the manager recieved my keys. She moved me out of the apartment home, charged me rent for the month of May, charged me the specials I had received on my apartment home for the past 14 months, and charged me an early termination fee.
The lease states that if I break me lease before it is up then I will have to payback my concessions, or specials, but since my lease was over there should not be any reason for them to charge me that amount. I was more than willing to pay the rent for the month of May, but since I surrendered possesion of the apartment when the lease was up and they ended up charging me more then $2200 in fees, I'm not a little hesitant to give them any money at all.
I am going to file a complaint with the Houston Apartment Association, but I want to know the legalities before I do...ie, can they lawfully charge me specials and rent AFTER I've surrendered possession and after the lease term has been complete? I know there was a case in Florida where a man took the complex to court for wrongful charging of fees, but I'm not sure where to find that information.
Could anyone point me in the right direction to find that case or does anyone have information on this particular case?
Thanks ever so much!
I was in a lease agreement for 14 months with my former community. My lease stated I needed a 60 day notice before vacating. My lease was up May 4, 2009, and I turned in my notice on April 1, 2009. I moved on April 24th, and turned in my keys on May 4th. I agreed to pay rent through the end of my lease term, however, with the cost of moving I told the assistant manager that it would be late. The assistant manager was gone when the manager recieved my keys. She moved me out of the apartment home, charged me rent for the month of May, charged me the specials I had received on my apartment home for the past 14 months, and charged me an early termination fee.
The lease states that if I break me lease before it is up then I will have to payback my concessions, or specials, but since my lease was over there should not be any reason for them to charge me that amount. I was more than willing to pay the rent for the month of May, but since I surrendered possesion of the apartment when the lease was up and they ended up charging me more then $2200 in fees, I'm not a little hesitant to give them any money at all.
I am going to file a complaint with the Houston Apartment Association, but I want to know the legalities before I do...ie, can they lawfully charge me specials and rent AFTER I've surrendered possession and after the lease term has been complete? I know there was a case in Florida where a man took the complex to court for wrongful charging of fees, but I'm not sure where to find that information.
Could anyone point me in the right direction to find that case or does anyone have information on this particular case?
Thanks ever so much!
