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Is it possible to terminate my lease early? i am not comfortable with strangers coming into my home while i am away. i feel this is an invasion of privacy. my yearly lease is up on march 1. i offered to move out by oct 1 and i will also pay the rent until nov. 1 and they said no. is it feasible for them to sue me for the four months rent? is it even worth it for them. technically, i am giving them two and a half months notice to find another tenant or to sell the condo. i think that is very reasonable. they are looking at selling the unit for over $200,000 and i pay $1000 a month. with that much negative cash flow they have no prayer of selling this thing anytime soon. any thoughts are appreciated. also, i never paid a security deposit only the first months rent. but i am giving them quite a bit of notice. i understand i am bound to my lease. but people break leases, it happens in life. is it worth it for the landlord to pursue legal action for four months rent? i don't see how they can go after my credit because i have and am paying rent on time every month and i will be sending them a certified letter stating that i am moving out by the end of september.

You need to find a middle ground. If they don't want to let you out, leave the state of the condo in an absolute wreck. They will not want to show it anymore. They want you to stay because an occupied place sells more quickly than an unoccupied place. Check your lease on the LL's availabilty of the unit. Check w/ local authorities as to what your rights are on people comming through your rented place, they may HAVE to have your permission to show it.

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For notice to have her realtor show the place? the tenants are not being too helpful as they work shift work and its hard to get offers on the place. the papers have been given to end the lease but shes trying to get a buyer before they leave. the new owner wouldnt take possession until they are gone. we were thinking it wasa 24hr notice type of thing. just a little more, it was month to month to start and both parties agreed on the date the leasew ould be done, w/o any issues. but now they are turning away the realtor cuz they are asleep or busy. any other ideas?

I have 7 yrs property mgt experience in CA where I managed 3 large apartment complexes and I represented my company myself in all court actions. I can only speak as a fact re: CA law, and have a lot of knowledge on OH law, but I do believe that in most states you can enter a rental unit with 24 hours written notice. However if the tenant still denies you access there is really nothing you can do until they are out. If you force your way in they will fight eviction and delay their departure. This situation is unfortunate but there is little that can be done. Good luck to your friend.

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My husband and i resigned a lease with an owner of the condo we live in for another year and now the owner wants to sell the place. he said he would put in the contract that our current lease has to be fulfilled, but what are our rights in terms of privacy when he wants to show it? i don't feel comfortable with him/or an agent coming by without any notice and i really don't want to participate in an open house, after all it's our property in the condo. honestly if i had know if he was going to sell, i wouldn't have signed on for another year. what rights to privacy do we have as being the current tenants under a lease? thanks. thanks, is this a reasonable reason to break the lease? what about the security deposit we paid him, does he transfer it to the new owner? never said that he didn't have a right to sell his property, just signed the lease and think it would have be the right thing to do to disclose his plans. my friend went through this and had jewelry stolen during an open house...that scares me.

Your rights are that you need 24 hour notice before any showings. Unfortunately, that is all you are entitled to. The fact that it is the owners condo takes legal precedence over the fact that your property is inside the condo.

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My partner and i are renting a condo from the owner/landlord in connecticut. our lease is over soon towards the end of the year . the landlord recently put the condo on the market for sale, this will not affect our lease at all whether the condo is sold before our lease is up or not. we will be moving when our lease is up because the apartment has been too small for us for a while. i am already aware of the fact that the owner must give us 24 hours notice to enter for showings. there is no problem with that as long as notice is given. i was recently told that since our lease doesn't require our permission for agents to enter, a lock box will be installed on the door to make it easier for other agents ( besides the usual one) to enter for showings, open houses, etc. ( as long as they give us 24 hours notice). i have no problem at all with that. when we first spoke about the condo being put on the market, i told them i would rather not allow a lock box to be put on the door, it makes me very uncomfortable and as long as notice is given, i will make it my business to be here to let them in when they would like to show the condo. i have had bad experiences in the past of people being in my apartment when i am not there and it has not been pleasant. this is our home, with our valuables and i also have a newborn baby in the house. my lease covers entry, but says nothing about the option of a lock box. my question is under connecticut state law, do i need to allow a lock box on the door as long as i cooperate? because i would rather not have it if i don't need to.

CT law does not require 24 hours notice, your permission or consent to showing the property. As a key needs to be available for a realtor a lock box can be used, you have no say in the matter at all. Here is the actual law, as it is written: " Sec. 47a-16. When landlord may enter rented unit. (a) A tenant shall not unreasonably withhold consent to the landlord to enter into the dwelling unit in order to inspect the premises, make necessary or agreed to repairs, alterations or improvements, supply necessary or agreed to services or exhibit the dwelling unit to prospective or actual purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workmen or contractors.

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I am a renter in a condo building in nova scotia, canada, and i have a year-to-year lease contract which will end after 1,5 months. because my landlord did not send me a 3 months written notice prior to the end date of my contract, my contract should have been extended to one more year. but now my landlord will sell the unit. since there is no item in the contract written about this condition, i don’t know if the landlord can evict me from the unit .

The current landlord cannot evict you, but the new owner may send notice to quit the premises after the transfer of ownership. Depends upon the condition of the sale, whether subject to the leases or not.

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This is a long tricky one, so i appreciate any feedback on the issue. i am confident i have an air tight case, but i would like other opinions. all this is in chicago. we lived in a remodeled 4 floor building. the bottom 2 were a duplex condo that we were renting, and the top 2 floors were single unit condos. the developer sold the top 2 units, and we were renting the duplex unit. --- toward the end of june 08, i was in the middle of purchasing a condo, and the deal fell through before closing because of issues with the seller. my lease was up at my current place, and they had already found a tenant, so i needed to look for a place to rent or rent to own asap. i found a great 2 floor condo, and we met the landlord, he approved me, and we moved in the very few days of june. the rent was $2000, with one month rent as the deposit. my girlfriend and i liked the place so much, we were planning on buying it. we were only renting though, and told the landlord we were going to think about purchasing or renting to own. my girlfriend's mother (who lived in nj) got pregnant, and there were complications with the pregnancy so we decided we were going to move out there and help her in her time of need. we informed the landlord, but told him we still may purchase and make it a investment property. we told him we'd give him the 2 month notice that was required in the lease if we were going to move out. right around the same time (toward the end of july) we started noticing the hardwood floor popping up or turning brown in certain areas. it was on both floors, up against a north wall. we were not sure what it was from, and presumed it was from us maybe leaving windows open during rainfall. it wasn't a big deal to us, we just wanted to get it fixed so it didn't mold or compromise our health. i looked in the lease, and the chicago tenant rights, and there wasn't much information on this, and since we thought it may have been our fault, i just decided to get it repaired. at this point in time, we had every intention to purchase. at this point in time, i had 4 repair guys come out, and give me quotes. we looked online, found the guy who was rated best online, who also happened to be the 2nd costliest. he told us, he could re-floor the the rooms where there was damage for around 800 or he could repair for $1700, (and we pay for materials). i did some research and it seemed pretty consistent that repairs usually cost more than flooring a whole area, because it takes a lot more time. we found in a storage area in the building 4 boxes of hardwood flooring that matched the the floors. we used it without his permission, but at the time i still thought we were buying the place, and it didn't seem like a huge repair so i didn't notify him. additionally in the lease, it didn't say i had to notify him for that kind of repair. i wasn't hiding anything from him, it just seemed like i'd get it done and over with, and i had heard from one of the owners upstairs that his hardwood floor guy was terrible, and just overall didn't want to involve him. our repair guy removed the damaged hardwood flooring, let it air out for a couple days, and then repaired the flooring. he said it wasn't clear what the water damage was from, and potentially just a lot of humidity since it was low grade/mid-grade engineered hardwood flooring. we ended up giving him our 2 month notice at the end of our 2nd month into the lease, and then proceeded to move to nj. we still had plans to purchase the unit and rent it out while we lived in nj. later i come to find that the top floor unit had been leaking down against the north wall, and really messed up the unit right above it. it ended up being the cause of all the water damage on my units top floor too, and the bottom floor of the building (my lower floor). i contacted the landlord as we were moving out telling him we had got repairs done, and that some of the hardwood floor was popping up due to the water damage. he told me it was being repaired and that everything would be fine. this raised a couple red flags, but he was the developer of the place, and we knew if we did end up purchasing, we had a warranty and all repairs were covered. -- 2 weeks after we moved out, he contacts me saying he was looking for the hardwood flooring, and found that we repaired parts of the floor with his hardwood. he said that we repaired the flooring over soaking wet subfloor and that it was a botched job. he said the whole floor needed to be replaced. he was going to subtract everything our of our security deposit, and it would probably cost more than our deposit. i contacted him back saying that the subfloor wasn't wet when we had it repaired. he continued to claim that the repairs needed to be done because it was a botched job, and that i had no right to do the repair. he said the subfloor was completely molded, and it was going to cost us. i told him, the reason he had to do the repairs was because the top floor additionally, based on some of your answers. i just wanted to say that the damage wasn't my fault in the first place. i don't think its lawful that i should be responsible for the water damage. even though i did a repair on property that wasnt mine, with materials that werent mine, it isn't my fault that the water destroyed the entire floor and subfloor. also, in the lease it doesntly say anything about repairs.

You are not going to get the outcome you want. You made alterations to a location that did not belong to you (whether it may or may not in the future.) On top of that, had you alerted the owner, he may have had the chance to look into the moisture problem and found the leak long before it became this much of a problem. Lastly, you used his materials and no matter how you look at that, it is theft by unlawful taking. I hate to tell you, but yes he can take this out of your deposit.

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I am renting a condo in nyc. my current lease ends on 12/31/06, and i signed a new 2-year lease to take effect on 1/1/07. the apartment's owner is foreclosing on the place, and it is to be auctioned on 1/17/07. i do not want to stay in this apt. anymore. the condo board drives me crazy with notices and info concerning this eviction, and i would like to move before my current lease ends. i have found an apt. that i love elsewhere, yet i don't know if i can cancel the lease that i signed (the one that begins on 1/1/07). the apt. is going to be sold anyway, and the board still has not sent back a copy of the lease, signed, so i don't even know if they have agreed to it at this point. can i get out of the lease?

If you have a lease it is for the property. The property is still the property described in the lease. The owner to be buys the property with the lease intact. As far as you not getting a copy of the signed lease, you have an implied lease. You should get a copy though so you can protect yourself. If the board doesn't want to give you a copy, submit a letter (registered mail) that you are not renewing your lease due to their lack of response to your original renewal.

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On my door today was posted a notice of trustee's sale. the notice is dated 5/15/08 and says that the unit is being auctioned on 6/9/2008. i'm in a one year lease that began 2/1/2008. my landlord says that "this whole thing with the bank has been taken care of and i will have a new loan funded by next week". i have my suspicions that he is lying in order to get me to pay for the full june's rent, which is due 6/1. i'm nervous about this whole situation and would like to know if i can find any information on my own, like if the property has been taken off of the aution list. where can i research my rights as a tenant if the property is sold at auction or becomes bank-owned? are they required to give me a 30 day notice to vacate the property? is my lease voided by the sale? is anyone required to notify me as the tenant when/if the property is sold and to "keep me in the loop"? i'm in riverside county in california. i appreciate any input!

I am a broker and I specialize in foreclosures in SoCal. You are correct, most likely the landlord is trying to milk as much of money out of you as possible. Here's the legalities: You are supposed to pay rent as your lease indicates. If the home gets foreclosed on, the new owner or the foreclosing lender (if they ended up owning it) will visit the property shortly after the auction to see if it is vacant. When they see that you are still there, they will most likely bribe you to leave (cash for keys) within a week. If you do not do so, then they will evict you as a hold over tenant. The eviction will take 17-25 days. If this happens to you, then your recourse is to sue the owner in small claims for breach of contract and collect for moving expenses and any unreturned security deposit and any pro-rated rent paid for June. Now the realty of the issue is that you will not see your security deposit and the house is most likely being auctioned off as it will take a miracle for the owner to refi with the negative credit he/she has and once the notice of trustee's sale hits, the owner can no longer just cure the loan. The loan will need to be paid off in it's entirely by the auction date. I suggest you don't pay June until he can prove that the loan is up to date. Kiss your deposit goodbye. Wait until the bank shows up and accept their offer for cash for keys. They usually give you a week to move. If it is a private owner who bought the place, then you can see if they are willing to rent it to you. Feel free to shoot me the address of the property and I will look up both the owner and to see if it is in foreclosure or not. I can also check to see if his/her other properties are in foreclosure or not as well. Regards

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I'm thinking of letting my condo foreclose because i'm underwater. i am currently renting it out and i have excellent credit. but i just don't want to deal with the condo association or the problems that go along with being a landlord. i know my credit will be messed up after i let it foreclose but that's ok. i have zero debt with credit cards so after i foreclose will i have to file bankruptsy or can i just wash my hands of the condo and walk away? also, can the irs garnish my wages for property taxes? i cannot make any money off the condo if i were to sell it so i am thinking of keeping the rent from my tenants and not paying the mortgage. i know it's a terrible thing to do but they are on a month to month lease anyway and the bank does have to give them a 30 day notice. i heard that the banks are so backed up in foreclosures that it's taking them a year or two before they even start the foreclosure process. so if i at least collect a yr. of rent from the tenants, it will make up somewhat of my loss. so far i've been making the mortgage payment faithfully and never been late on a payment, but i've been doing alot of thinking and could use a litte advice. don't want to do a short sale because i don't want to scare the tenants out of there. advice please? i have to add 80.00 of my own money each month to break even. i can't raise the rent because the condo wouldn't be worth renting. the one above me sold 45,000.00 less than what i paid for mine 7 yrs. ago. plus the one upstairs is completely remodeled with a jacuzzi, granite counter tops and hardwood floors; whereas my condo is old fashioned and i just don't have the money for upgrades. i know my credit will be ruined but it won't be ruined forever. i already have a new car that's paid for and a place to live so really bad credit for 7 yrs. is not such a bad thing. a lien against my property, who cares because the bank will own it. i tried doing the home affordable stability plan but i do not qualify for that because i do not reside at the residence. i really want to let it go but i just need to know if the irs can garnish my wages? and do i have to file bankruptsy? like i said i have no debt except the condo.

Are you able to make the payments? If so, why would you EVER let it foreclose and ruin your credit? Property values will eventually go up and you'll be fine. It's not worth the hit on your credit, etc if you can make the payment (I assume the rent covers the payment?). Property taxes aren't paid to the IRS, they are paid to the county. They can attach a lien to the property or to you personally. Even if they property forecloses, you are responsible for property taxes owed form when you owned the property.

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Today, we had a foreclosure notice posted on our door. we're tenants, not owners. i've been hearing stories of tenants who have worked out rent-to-own type deals with the banks tha own the properties after foreclosures. i'm a little skeptical about it because i've never known someone first hand that has worked out this type of deal- it's usually a "friend of a friend". so, my question is - does this type of stuff really happen? it makes sense on both sides of the argument. banks would rather get some sort of income because they probably won't sell the property (we're in condos and there are 3 units in my building alone that have been on the market for more than 6 months). but i could also understand that a bank wouldn't necessarily want to be a "landlord". anyone know anything about any situations like this? i'd really like to work out a rent-to-own type of deal because the amount that is still owed on this property is only about 1/6th of how much this property is worth. one problem is that my fiance and i both have bad credit. but we are able to prove that we paid rent for 2 years with the cancelled checks... and the mortgage payment for this place is about 1/3 of the amount of rent we were paying. any advice?

NO, banks do not "rent to own", they do not rent period. You may be able to buy the house for near the appraised value (what is owed does not matter). Paying rent does not effect your credit. no one cares that you paid rent. They will care about your credit, your habit of repaying money you borrow. It sounds like you need to be looking for a new place to live.