Breaking a lease; I am an international student of Ohio University

[anjali82]

I am Anjali Shrivastava, an international student of ohio university. In 2010 November I had to break 1 yr lease of my apartment, because I was required to leave the country as I had taken medical withdrawal from the university. Now, because of breaking the lease I am payable for 8 months rent+penalty which comes to around 5900$ so basically the amount for the part of lease in which I did not live in the rented property. My question is - Since I was required to leave the country because of my medical condition, can I not break the lease with no cost??. Also what are my liabilities in current scenario and what would happen if I don't pay them..would they come to arrest me?

[Lexus]

Ask your landlord to prepare a lease termination agreement stating that you are allowed to move out early and you will not be responsible for paying rent after you leave the rental property. Don't forget to let your landlord know the exact date that you are leaving so that he can include this information in the termination agreement.

I would like to inform you that if you have legal grounds for breaking your lease such as the landlord not making necessary repairs to the facility, then you may not have to pay these fees. In addition, please be aware that a broken lease can affect your credit history.

[sandyclaus]

Originally Posted by anjali82 I am Anjali Shrivastava, an international student of ohio university. In 2010 November I had to break 1 yr lease of my apartment, because I was required to leave the country as I had taken medical withdrawal from the university. Now, because of breaking the lease I am payable for 8 months rent+penalty which comes to around 5900$ so basically the amount for the part of lease in which I did not live in the rented property. My question is - Since I was required to leave the country because of my medical condition, can I not break the lease with no cost??. Also what are my liabilities in current scenario and what would happen if I don't pay them..would they come to arrest me?

Unfortunately, medical issues are not usually considered good cause for breaking a lease. If there was any hope of breaking it without penalty, it would have had to be with the written authorization of your LL, which apparently you didn't get since they charged you $5900 for the rent.

I'm not entirely sure they could legally hold you liable for the entire 8 months of rent, though. The LL had a duty to mitigate their damages by making reasonable efforts to re-rent the place as soon as possible after you left. I find it very hard to believe that they had no success in locating a replacement tenant much sooner than the end of your lease. How long ago was this that you left? You may still have time to challenge the amount they are trying to charge you.

And no, they cannot come and put you in jail over not paying your rent. Debtor's prisons were outlawed here in the US a long time ago. They COULD, however, sue you for a judgment, and then they might be able to garnish your wages, levy bank accounts, or seize assets that are of value (such as cars, real property, etc.).

[sandyclaus]

Originally Posted by Lexus Ask your landlord to prepare a lease termination agreement stating that you are allowed to move out early and you will not be responsible for paying rent after you leave the rental property. Don't forget to let your landlord know the exact date that you are leaving so that he can include this information in the termination agreement. I would like to inform you that if you have legal grounds for breaking your lease such as the landlord not making necessary repairs to the facility, then you may not have to pay these fees. In addition, please be aware that a broken lease can affect your credit history.

In case you weren't paying attention, OP has already moved out and returned to her country. The LL isn't waiving the unpaid rent for the lease break. The only reason she broke the lease was because of her medical issues, and she is well aware that the broken lease can affect her credit history (she actually has another thread asking about that in another section).

[Friend In Court]

Originally Posted by anjali82 I am Anjali Shrivastava, an international student of ohio university. In 2010 November I had to break 1 yr lease of my apartment, because I was required to leave the country as I had taken medical withdrawal from the university. Now, because of breaking the lease I am payable for 8 months rent+penalty which comes to around 5900$ so basically the amount for the part of lease in which I did not live in the rented property. My question is - Since I was required to leave the country because of my medical condition, can I not break the lease with no cost??. Also what are my liabilities in current scenario and what would happen if I don't pay them..would they come to arrest me?

The reasons you gave for leaving and breaking your lease, unfortunately are not good enough to relieve you of your obligation under the lease.

The landlord had a duty to mitigate his damages by making good faith effort to re rent the place right away. Ordinarily, only a few months would be allowed if he chose to take it to court.

He would have to sue you and a summons delivered outside of the country might have a hard time catching up with you -- unless he has your current address. If you cannot return to defend, frankly there is little the landlord or court can do.

Debtor's prisons were abolished when this country was founded so, no, you would not be subject to arrest IF they got a monetary judgment against you. Jails in this country are reserved only for those who commit crimes.

[anjali82]

Thanks friend-in-court and sandyclaus, your posts were helpfull

Have you returned to America? If so, and if you you try to rent or buy a place, there might be a judgement against you already in place. Be aware of that. It may even come up at a later time down the road, or maybe the Landlord did not file the paperwork for such.

You cannot get out of your legal obligation because of a medical reason. I hope you are feeling better now.

You legally owe for the unfulfilled part of the lease money, so try to come to an understanding with the landlord. HOWEVER, find out of the LL rented out the place during those 8 months left on your lease, because that will show if he was able to mitigate his damages and that may help you in terms of settlement discussions.

Who cares? How can they track it? Do you have a social security number? No. Can you change your Passport number? Probably. Do they have a database with any personal identifying information on it? Probably not...