Breaking your lease when you get off the waitlist Forum

[itsmytime10]

Is anyone signing a lease at this point when you are not a 100% sure if you will even end up in that school.
Assuming you get off the wait-list at another school, what do you plan on doing?

[futurelawyer413]

i havent signed a lease yet. i'm still waiting to hear back from some other schools, so i see no point in getting a lease down until i hear back from those schools. at this point, i dont really care about money, i just want a decision from them damnit! its already 4th week of april! lol

i'll look for housing after i hear back from basically everybody, im not sure where to draw the line here, but this wait time is ridic.

[itsmytime10]

i havent signed a lease yet. i'm still waiting to hear back from some other schools, so i see no point in getting a lease down until i hear back from those schools. at this point, i dont really care about money, i just want a decision from them damnit! its already 4th week of april! lol

i'll look for housing after i hear back from basically everybody, im not sure where to draw the line here, but this wait time is ridic.

mm the problem is that the apartment i really want seems to be going really fast so i am in a situation where i need to sign the lease and break it if i get off the wait-list at my top choice.

[FuManChusco]

that's a terrible idea. it's a binding contract. you will have to pay a penalty if the landlord loses any money at all due to your decision.

[Z3RO]

I dunno about you guys, but I spoke to my landlord about this, and we had a verbal agreement that if I have to move to go to law school over the summer, there wouldn't be any problem. That's good enough for me.

I would find out very quickly what the penalty is to get out of your lease before signing anything if you're seriously considering jumping ship to get in off of the waitlist. I don't know how you would have enough money laying around to pay a month's rent on one apartment while moving from another (ostensibly paying a month's rent there), then pay a penalty on a lease, then pay to move your stuff to another city, and pay a month's rent on the new apartment.

[itsmytime10]

there's no such thing as breaking a lease. that's a terrible idea. it's a binding contract. you will have to pay a penalty if the landlord loses any money at all due to your decision. you seriously going to law school?

Another 20 year old kid who thinks he is actually smart.

[jks289]

Of course there is "such a thing" as breaking a lease. If the apartments you want are as desirable as you say, you will probably have no trouble subletting or getting someone to take over your lease. Just talk to the landlord before signing anything. As long as you or the landlord finds someone to fill the spot, there are no actual damages to be paid.

[existenz]

there's no such thing as breaking a lease. that's a terrible idea. it's a binding contract. you will have to pay a penalty if the landlord loses any money at all due to your decision. you seriously going to law school?

Another 20 year old kid who thinks he is actually smart.

+1 Leases are broken all the time. What happens is that you will probably pay a month or two worth of rent penalty and/or lose your deposit. The landlord will have no interest in taking you to court, he'll just find a new renter.

[Bert]

I dunno about you guys, but I spoke to my landlord about this, and we had a verbal agreement that if I have to move to go to law school over the summer, there wouldn't be any problem.

I would still try to get something in writing (even an email) -- a verbal agreement wouldn't cut it with me especially if a agreement exists (signed by me) where I agree to pay rent until some date certain.

[Z3RO]

there's no such thing as breaking a lease. that's a terrible idea. it's a binding contract. you will have to pay a penalty if the landlord loses any money at all due to your decision. you seriously going to law school?

Another 20 year old kid who thinks he is actually smart.

+1 Leases are broken all the time. What happens is that you will probably pay a month or two worth of rent penalty and/or lose your deposit. The landlord will have no interest in taking you to court, he'll just find a new renter.

This exactly. It's totally normal to do something like this; I just don't see how a person would have the money to do it while moving twice and living on saved $$.

I dunno about you guys, but I spoke to my landlord about this, and we had a verbal agreement that if I have to move to go to law school over the summer, there wouldn't be any problem.

I would still try to get something in writing (even an email) -- a verbal agreement wouldn't cut it with me especially if a agreement exists (signed by me) where I agree to pay rent until some date certain.

You're probably right, but I trust this guy. He's been nothing but decent and honest the whole time that I've dealt with him this past year.