landlord trying to make out at my expense!!

My husband, children, and I have to relocate because of my husband's job. The landlord is willing to let us out of our lease 5 months early with the understanding that he keeps the security deposit. We expected as much. The problem? Not only is he collecting a full last months rent from us (even though we are only going to be there for 1 1/2 weeks). When we moved into our apartment the dishwasher that was here did not work. The landlord said "if you get it looked at I'll pay for half of the service call" Which he never did. The dishwasher was unrepairable so we got the ok from the landlord to bring the dishwasher we already owned and put it in the apartment. Now that we need to move he is telling us that we can not take the dishwasher with us. Is this legal for him to demand we leave it or should we just take it since it is ours to begin with? Help Please!!!!

You have 2 problems. The first is the security deposit. You have to pay rent for the month, even if you don't plan to stay the entire month. Your lease asks for a monthly rent, not a weekly rent. If you choose to leave before the end of the month, that is your choice. Most state laws say you cannot use your deposit for rent, so you are lucky he will allow you to use it for that.

Since you are breaking a lease (changing jobs is not a legal reason to terminate a lease unless it is a military transfer), you would normally be responsible for the rent until the unit is re-rented, the advertising costs, any agent fees if he uses one to find a new tenant, the utilities in some areas if your lease made you responsible for those, and any unreimbursed expenses he suffers because you broke the lease. This is in addition to the normal damages that may or may not be present. And at least 12 states' laws say the LL has no obligation to even try and re-rent the unit, so you might actually owe for the remainder of the lease. (Please give your state.) So if he will accept only that deposit to let you out, your loss of 2 1/2 weeks is cheap! Get a written statement from him that will release you from any further obligation. You will come out way ahead.

Your second problem is the DW. You probably didnt get it in writing that he would pay 1/2 of the service call for the other one, right? Did you do a WRITTEN repair request on it? Get a statement from the repair guy that said it was unrepairable? And you probably didn't get it in writing that you could remove his DW and dispose of it, nor that you could install your own and remove it when you leave? If not, you have a problem here for 2 reasons. 1)You must leave the unit as you found it. That unit had a DW in it when you took over possession. You removed it and disposed of it, so you need to compensate him for the DW (because you didn't get it in writing that you could do that). And 2)the DW is screwed into the countertop and connected to the plumbing and drainage in the house, making it a permanent "fixture". Fixtures are anything that are permanently fastened to the structure of the house. Once a fixture is installed, it becomes part of the property, regardless of who purchased it. If you have no paperwork that allowed you to remove his, dispose of it, or take yours with you once it had been installed, you can't remove it now. If you do take it, he can charge you with the cost of returning his property to the state it was in when you took possession (with DW). Since he is already using your deposit to pay your last month's rent, there will be nothing left to deduct from for this and his only recourse would be to file suit against you. Unless you have the paperwork above, you need to leave the DW. In future, get EVERYTHING in writing. And make sure you get a statement from the LL that says you have no further obligation under that lease.

I am just visiting but you give really good advice sir or madam above. I am really impressed. Fits my situation exactly.

Thank you for your reply. First of all I explained that we expected him to keep the security deposit. That is not a problem. Second of all he is not keeping the deposit to cover the last months rent. We are paying him another $600.00 on top of the security deposit. I have asked around and found that this guy is really into raking people over the coals so to speak. I am so glad that we are moving into a house where we have no rent or mortgage. It is a shame because my husband and I have just closed on our bankruptcy (the landlord knows this) we have two small children, and we have NO money (he knows this too) and no credit to buy ANY appliances which we need all appliances. It is a shame that in today's world people take advantage of others so easily. What ever happened to compassion for fellow mankind. Please do feel free to reply if you wish but I will not be back to this site. BTW I spoke to an attorney friend of mine and she said to pack up the dishwasher and take it with us. It is stated nowhere in the lease that if we buy a new appliance that we have to leave it when we go. It is our property and it would cost the landlord more in court fees than if he just went and bought a new dishwasher. Thanks but no thanks to your advice. Are you even an attorney? Lol.

As I said before, the fixture cannot be taken out. If you do, he can sue you for returning the property to its before rental condition (with a DW). You had no written permission to remove his DW and no proof that it was inoperative. So as far as a court knows, you removed his perfectly good DW to install your own. That means you need to reinstall his. Since you no longer have it, he can sue you if you just leave a hole there. But something tells me this tenant will not listen. They will find out when the LL sues them. If she fails to return to the area for the hearing, she will have a judgment placed against her by default.

To other tenants who may read this - If you have to remove some property of the LL, get it in writing that you have permission to do this. If it has to be disposed of, get it in writing. If you break a lease, again, get it in writing that you are no longer responsible for the obligations under the lease. If the above poster fails to get this, she may find out that she will be sued for all of the other items mentioned (rent until it is re-rented, advertising costs, agent fees, utilities in some areas if your lease said you were responsible, and any other unreimbursed costs). Changing jobs is not an excuse to break a lease in any court.

Why do people write into the forum asking for advice if they don't want to listen to it when it doesn't agree with them? I'm only giving the legal definition of a fixture and why it cannot be removed.

[we got the ok from the landlord to bring the dishwasher we already owned and put it in the apartment. ]

...and he said you could then take it when you go? Then you are fine. If he did not consent then you both have an issue about what was agreed.

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You don't have to buy a new one that is true. But you cannot get rid of the old one without agreement from the LL.

EXACTLY! He allowed them to bring the DW in, but he didn't agree to have his old one disposed of, nor did he agree to let them remove their DW after it was installed and leave him with nothing but a hole. They need to replace the DW with a comparable used one if they want to take theirs.