Cancel lease before it starts?

[college mom]

My daughter and her boyfriend are both in college, and signed separate leases for two rooms in the same (2BR+study) apartment (lease is for use of one bedroom and private bath, each, with shared common areas of the apartment itself). I should mention at this point that this is in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Daughter had rented 3 BRs in a 4BR unit from this same Landlord for the previous year, and had paid each semester in advance. She was a model tenant. The reason she leased 3 BR's, was because her roommate already had leased one BR, and we were going to lease 2. The roommate had said that the other room would just remain locked (that was her understanding). When we were signing the lease, the landlord informed us that they could place another roommate in the 4th BR of the apartment with the girls (and in fact already had a girl lined up), unless we leased the other room. (Each bedroom had a separate lease agreement). They told us that we would have absolutely no say in who this other person was, so, we leased the other room as kind of an insurance policy, since we had no idea what kind of person they were trying to place in there. (It could have been a smoker, or worse). When we brought this up to the landlord recently, regarding the situation with this new lease, they said that this is NOT the case in a 2 or 3 BR unit, just the 4BR units are "placement apartments" (yet, this is not written in any of the documents we have signed or been given, nor is it advertised).

Back to the current issue:

Two months prior to the move-in date which is Aug. 16, 2008, daughter and her beau broke up, because he had become emotionally abusive. If they both had relinquished the apartment, it could be re-rented immediately and they would have both been released from their leases.

He chose to keep the apartment, while she informed the landlord that she would not be taking possession. The landlord informed her that there is NO early termination clause in her lease, so she is responsible to either find someone to take over the lease on her part of the apartment prior to move-in date, which would release her from the lease...or she would be responsible to sub-lease after move-in date.

Problem is that landlord, even though it is not written in the lease, says that the other tenant (the ex-beau) must approve of the renter she finds, so he has the ability to block her from re-renting. He, likewise, has informed daughter that he will not consider anyone she finds...only someone the apartment manager brings to him. This traps her into paying for the ex-beau to essentially have a private apartment, while she will have to be paying for two apartments (she's in college, far from home and must live somewhere else).

Upon hearing this, I contacted the apartment management, and requested the name/address of the apartment owner. I wanted to send a letter to them directly, in hopes of working this out. They refused to give me any information. On the lease, it says that the lease is between XYZ(Landlord) t/a PQS(Landlord) and daughter's name (Resident)...but I can find no information regarding XYZ (XYZ and PQS are not the actual names). The only people we have been dealing with are the office staff at PQS, which is on the grounds of the apartment complex.

Since "early termination" assumes that the renter has already taken possession, wouldn't "cancellation" of the lease be the more appropriate term, and since she gave more than 6 weeks notice prior to move in date...shouldn't they have to release her from this lease??

Also, when she hand-delivered a letter to the Landlord, stating that she would not be taking possession, she asked them to sign a copy of the letter, just stating that they had in fact received an identical copy. They flatly refused to sign anything at all, saying that it could be made to look like they agreed to what was said in the letter.

According to the laws I've read, the burden of proof is on her to prove that she indeed delivered the letter to them. Since they refused to sign it, it would just be her word against theirs.

She does not intend to take possession of the keys to apartment, and wants to know if there is any way to get out of having to pay the rent?

Also, I originally signed as guarantor (I have good credit, but have since quit working. My husband works, but is not on the lease and did not sign the guarantor letter.) If daughter doesn't accept possession and refuses to pay, they would come after me, of course. Since I no longer work, and my husband didn't sign the guarantor form, could they force him to pay?

I just don't know what to do next. They have us over a barrel, with that UNwritten clause which gives the ex the ability to block us from placing another person in that apartment without his approval. Help!

When she rented from him previously, she was in a rooming house where each tenant rented one room of the house. Now she is in a 2 BD apartment lease. The LL told you at lease signing that this unit is not rented individually by the room at will, and that the roommates picked the others. It should come as no suprise then that the BF who is living there would get to pick the roommate. I suggest she find some suitable aplicants and introduce them to the LL. Tell the LL that the BF will deny access to anyone she suggests so would he please not mention where the applicant came from.

In the state of VA, the LL does have a duty to mitigate damages. So he does have to advertise and look for another tenant. If the LL finds suitable tenants and the BF continues to deny them, she can sue the BF for his interference. Since the LL has a duty to try to re-rent, the state will put a cap on how many months of rent she will have to pay. If he doesn't get the unit re-rented within 2-3 months, she should write a certified letter stating that she feels she has met her obligation and he is not trying to mitigate damages as required by law.

[college mom]

Quote:"When she rented from him previously, she was in a rooming house where each tenant rented one room of the house. Now she is in a 2 BD apartment lease."

Actually, no. The 4 BR unit, that she leased last year,was also just an apartment in the same complex, with 4-8x10 BRs, 2 baths, and shared kitchen/livingroom area. We were told then that the landlord could place another tenant in the other room of the apartment, unless we leased it. The landlord NEVER said to us "this is a placement unit", or that "the 2 and 3 BR apartment units are NOT placement units".

Let me better describe this apartment complex. There are about 10 large buildings, 3 or 4 stories tall, with roughly 12 apartments in each building...each apartment has between 2 and 5 bedrooms, and each bedroom in EVERY apartment has a separate lease.

That's why I am surprised that the rules that applied to last year's rental in the same complex, with the same landlord...the rules the landlord used against us to force us to sign a lease on the extra room "or else"...don't apply now to the new apartment unit.

Honestly, if I were the other tenant, I would want a say in who my roommate is, too. That's why I leased the other unit last year.

If that rule applied then, it should apply now, though. If the ex-beau wants to be choosy, then he should have to lease the extra unit, so that he can sub-lease to whomever he chooses.

Our problem with the change in rules, is that the ex-beau has vowed NOT to allow ANYone we find to take over our daughter's lease...which means that the landlord will hold her to the lease, and she will effectively have to pay for the ex to enjoy a private apartment, while only paying for half the rent. Good idea in taking applicants to the landlord to introduce to the ex. We'll try that, too.

As I said previously, the LL MUST mitigate damages. There is a limit to how long she will have to pay for the unit if the LL does not try and find a new tenant. If he allows the BF to veto any and all applicants, she still will only have to pay for a few months. Judges do not allow LLs to continue to charge former tenants for the entire lease when this law exists in their state laws. Notify the lL of any interested parties and let him know that his clock is ticking. If he doesn't find a tenant in a couple months, ket him know that she has payed long enough for him to take reasonable steps to re-rent the unit and mitigate her damges per state law. If he tries to sue, she can challenge in court and force the LL to show all the steps he has taken to rent the unit. The judge will put a limit on how long she needs to pay.

[college mom]

What about the guarantor letter I signed? The letter specified that the guarantor must have income 3 times that of the rent. I no longer work, but am married and my husband works. I am guessing that a court would say that my husband's income is mine as well?

Is there a way to rescind my guarantor letter??

You cannot rescind your guarantor letter any more than you can ask to remove your name from the mortgage. That letter makes you responsible, just as the mortgage would. Notify the LL as noted previously, send any interested parties to him, and keep on him to mitigate the damages (and lower any liability you have.) You should only be responsible for a couple of month's rent after you notify him this way.