Tenant question, having trouble paying rent, what to do? (lease, renters, creditor)
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We rented a house in Florida for 1 year. The job we moved there for fell through and after 6 months we moved to another state for another job. We paid the rent on the house for 10 months altogether. The house was a bit of a mess, so we had cleaners come in and clean the house and lawn care and pool work done. We were told that if we did all that the rental agency had people who wanted the house and we wouldn't be responsible for the last two months rent. To make a long story short, they never found anyone and are now threatening to call my husbands job and tell them we haven't paid. We didn't realize that we would have to pay because we were told we wouldn't have to. We asked the landlord, after she called 1 day after the rent was due, and threatened to call my husbands job and to call a lawyer, if we could make payments on this months rent and then pay June's rent in full. She said no.
What can we do? I do not have the rent in full. I realize I am responsible for the last 2 months rent, but I do not have the money. My husband is going to pawn the guns his father left him to pay Junes rent, but I don't know what to do now for this months rent. What can she do to us?
Does your lease describe any rules, policies or procedures for "early termination"?
Way back when... did you fully vacate the house?
Remove all your possessions and clean it up so that the LL could re-rent it...
and then turn in the keys and advise the LL you were leaving?
If so, and having paid 4 months of rent since then...
you have a scum of the earth LL and property manager who should be fought to the last breath.
If not... then what exactly was the sequence?
(having trouble following your first post)
I agree – I need a little more information. What does your lease say?
A lot of times there is a clause for early termination that allows you to terminate your lease early with 30 day notice + two extra months of rent, or something similar. If that’s the case, you’ve more than fulfilled that obligation and your LL is wrong in coming after you. Did you give written notice? That’s usually the required standard.
Ultimately, it comes down to what is in writing, not what you were told. See what is in your lease and that will be your answer.
One thing I would do is send a certified letter to your old LL. Ask what exact amount she feels is due and inform her that attempts to communicate with your husband at his place of employment is unacceptable. State clearly: "Do not contact Mr. So-and-so at his place of employment". Then give acceptable means of contacting you (email, phone number, address for snail mail). They are trying to bully you by threatening to call your husbands employer...do not allow them to do that. Wait for her to respond. When it becomes more formal and not just nastiness over the phone, she may suddenly realize that you did a good job cleaning up and she can find renters immediately instead of leaving a paper trail behind her.
I think Florida leases, by law, are supposed to have an Early Termination Clause. It's 2 months rent. But when you sign the lease, there are 2 check boxes and you choose 1 of them. 1 for Early Termination Caluse of 2 months rent and the other for No Early Termination. In this case you pay rent at due date each month BUT landlord MUST try to re-rent the place. They cannot just sit and collect your rent. In court, they must prove they tried to re-rent if you went with this choice.
Check your lease. Which box did you choose? If the choice wasn't on the lease, check FL landlord tenant law to see if landlord is in violation.
I think you should get an attorney. Property mgr screwed up in several ways 1) they promised you would not have to pay last 2 months and now changed their mind. 2) they should have included the 2 choices about lease termination in the lease and 3) they might not have been trying to re-rent the place. what proof do they have?? An attorney could get them on this.
I think an attorney would be cheaper than 2 months rent.
FYI - Florida rentals are hard to come by. There are more renters than houses available. Something is fishy if they didn't re-rent for past 4 months while you were paying full rent.
If you get an attorney then they must communicate through your attorney and cannot threaten to call your employer, etc.
You need an attorney to help you. I think you are being taken advanage of.
We didn't let them know we were gone, as I didn't think we could get out of the rent. We did let them know last month when they asked if we were going to renew the lease. We paid the company they work with to clean the house and the same thing with the pool and lawn care companies. As of now we are paying the weekly pool care, weekly lawncare, electric, water and of course the rent. We have never been late ever in the 10 months we have had the lease.
There are no boxes on our lease and really not much about terminating the lease.
Her threatening to call my husbands work is what scares me. I kind of can't believe she is acting like this. We explained the situation and told her we want to pay, but thought we were off the hook for the last 2 months so we don't have the money right now. I am trying to pay and come up with a payment plan that will work, but she won't take anything but the entire payment and the late fees all at once. She said if its not all in by Friday she is calling her lawyer and my husbands company.
I think we are going to send her a certified letter saying how much we can pay her biweekly until the rent and late fees are paid. Then send her cashiers checks and hope it will work. If not, at least if we go to court we can prove we have tried to pay and made a good effort. I am not sure if that will work but its all I can do. She will have her June rent on time.
I don't want to go to court and the whole thing stresses me. I even thought about pawning my wedding ring, but they are only willing to give me 100.00, which really won't help.
we didn't let them know we were gone, as i didn't think we could get out of the rent. We did let them know last month when they asked if we were going to renew the lease.
so you up and moved in the middle of the night without telling your landlord? And you're shocked as to why she refused to take payments from you? did it ever occur to you to ask your landlord about getting out of the lease? The most you would've paid was 4 mths rent.
we paid the company they work with to clean the house and the same thing with the pool and lawn care companies. As of now we are paying the weekly pool care, weekly lawncare, electric, water and of course the rent. We have never been late ever in the 10 months we have had the lease.
in another post you mention the house was a 'bit of a mess'. What that mess at move in or move out? If it was a move out, that's out of your pocket and or security desposit.
there are no boxes on our lease and really not much about terminating the lease.
so, it says something? What exactly does it say??
her threatening to call my husbands work is what scares me. I kind of can't believe she is acting like this. We explained the situation and told her we want to pay, but thought we were off the hook for the last 2 months so we don't have the money right now. I am trying to pay and come up with a payment plan that will work, but she won't take anything but the entire payment and the late fees all at once. She said if its not all in by friday she is calling her lawyer and my husbands company.
so big deal she calls your husband's job...what are they gonna do? Fire him for being a deadbead tenant?? Again...you left them hanging and you're surprised she won't take anything but full payment. There's no way i'd take partial payments form a tenant who skipped town.
i think we are going to send her a certified letter saying how much we can pay her biweekly until the rent and late fees are paid. Then send her cashiers checks and hope it will work. If not, at least if we go to court we can prove we have tried to pay and made a good effort. I am not sure if that will work but its all i can do. She will have her june rent on time.
I don't want to go to court and the whole thing stresses me. I even thought about pawning my wedding ring, but they are only willing to give me 100.00, which really won't help.
you can send a letter demanding whatever you want, but you're not in the position to make demands. You owe her the money...you need to go by her terms. And yeah, you're going to court. Good luck.
I'm pretty sure the Fair Credit act prevents your LL from calling your employer, especially when they aren't even the employer that would've been listed on your rental application. Tell this woman if she calls his employer you are going to call the Attorney General and file a complaint. At least you can get her off your back about that.
I'm pretty sure the Fair Credit act prevents your LL from calling your employer, especially when they aren't even the employer that would've been listed on your rental application. Tell this woman if she calls his employer you are going to call the Attorney General and file a complaint. At least you can get her off your back about that.
The landlord most certainly can all her dh's employer.....any creditor can call your employer...it's up to YOU to contact the creditor, in writing, telling them that they can't call your employer.
At this point of the game, this a landlord trying to find her tenants to collect unpaid monies, she has a right to call anyone she wants to find them.
Manderly asks a good question.....how did you landlord find your dh's new job if you up and left the state without telling her??
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did it ever occur to you to ask your landlord about getting out of the lease? The most you would've paid was 4 mths rent. 
