Mood:
hungryAs most of you know by now I bought house. Well before moving into said house I lived in a 3rd floor apt in North Raleigh. I moved there 3 years ago and have been relatively happy with it. Well last December when it came time to renew my lease they decided to increase my rent about $80 more than what I paid last year. I was shocked when I opened the letter. I immediately went to the office to get them to explain why the increase was so high. We haven’t been getting any additional services. Actually we have had services taken away. So why the big increase? Their response was that the price was consistent with what was on the market. See after Katrina we had over 150 thousand people move to Raleigh. They scooped up all the low priced homes and apartments. So my greedy landlord thought they could get their share of the action. Not having a place to go at the time I renewed my lease but swore that I would buy a house and leave this place for good.
I started my house search in January. I wasn’t in a hurry to by something and really didn’t expect to find something till the spring market opened up. I ended up changing agents 3 times till I found one that understood what I needed. Well in February I was showed this little house and even though it wasn’t the “perfect” house it seemed to fit me very well. So I put in an offer. I don’t think I ever really thought it would be accepted but after several phone calls and deals they finally agreed to sell it to me. Then it hit me…Oh my God I have a lease to try to get out of.
I stopped by the office one afternoon to talk to the manager. She and I have had a fairly good relationship. I have been a good tenant. I have always paid my rent on time and no one has ever complained about me. So I didn’t foresee a big hassle. Boy was I wrong. I understand that they are in the business to make money but I honestly thought they would work with me on this.
She at first congratulated me on my recent purchase and how great it would be to own my own home. Then she stated that she guessed I was here to get out of my lease. I asked what my options were and here are the two…the only two…I was given.
1) Pay rent on the apartment until they are able to rent it out again.
2) Pay a buy out fee of $1420.00
I knew I couldn’t afford to pay rent and have a mortgage payment so I knew my only option would be to pay the buy out fee. No where the hell would I get $1400? I called my dad and asked him for the money and to my surprised he decided to give me the money. So that problem was solved and I could breathe easier.
As I was moving my things out of my apartment a couple who lived in the building next to me came over and asked if they could take a look at my place. They were currently living in a one bedroom and wanted something bigger and mine was in a prime location with the balcony in the back facing the trees. After they looked at it they ran up to the office to sign a lease for my old place. That night I took a look over my lease and I saw something in it that the manager never mentioned. It stated that if the apartment was rented out before I moved then I could break the lease without owning anything. GREAT! I would now have $1400 to spend on the house.
The day after I moved I went over to the office to return the keys. The manager wished me luck, told me they would send me a bill for any damages. She never mentioned the $1400 so I assumed what I read in the lease to be true. Well two days later the manager called me to tell me they overlooked the buy out payment and they would need it from me as soon as possible. I immediately called the office. I informed them that I knew they had re-rented my apartment and that according to my lease I didn’t owe them anything. I lied and even said I had my lawyer look over the lease as well to make sure I was correct. Landlords fear lawyers. There was some silence and then the manager put me on hold for a good 10 minutes. I am sure enraged that I found out that apartment had been re-rented. She came back and said that I was correct and asked how I found out about the apartment. I informed them that the tenants told me. She stated that I didn’t owe the buy out fee but then tried to use a scare tactic by stating that if the people decided not to take the apartment then I would have to pay monthly till it was re-rented. I knew for a fact they were taking the apartment because the guy informed me that he was trying to hook up his cable and that my cable was still on. So I told the manager that I was okay with that. She then informed me that I would owe rent for the last week in April and any damages. I worried that they would try to get their money back on damages.
Well yesterday I got the bill in the mail. $173 was the final cost. That was for the remaining rent, water bill, and carpet cleaning. SWEET! That is way better than $1400. The plan now is to use that extra money to tile the patio out back. It feels so good to be rid of that apartment.
Let this be a lesson for you. Stand up to those who try to screw you over. They will often back down.
