Asking landlord to add an escape clause to my lease

dukebound85

dukebound85

macrumors Core
Is this possible? Essentially, my job is a field engineer and I may have to relocate before lease expires. HOWEVER, I am very open to moving back home to CO.

I want to ask the Landlord if I can add a clause saying
in event I leave my job or am relocated, I am only liable for 30 days rent upon notice
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crazy? or not?

My approach is to see how I could help them and then state my want. I have already have had a friend move to this apartment upon visiting mine. My company is ramping up hiring and would mention I would love to reccomend this place to HR and have them future hires. Is this impossible?

Here is my email this far. How can I achieve my best shot at this? The landlords are nice but it is ran by a management company

Brett,

Hi, this is (name) in (room and apartment). I would like to say that this is by far the nicest place I have lived in in regards to apartments and you and Connie have been very accommodating. I have been telling people at my work about this place and actually, one of my friends and her husband decided to move as a result of visiting and liking it, that being Kayt in building 3. I would be more than happy to contact my HR contact about having this place be recommended for newcomers to (my company) as I found it very challenging searching for a place to reside in while living across the country at the time. I consider myself fortunate to have found this place! In fact, we are ramping up hiring company wide which may potentially be advantageous to Hampton Run.

However, I would like to ask a question concerning my lease. My job is that of a field engineer and as such, I may have to relocate per (my company's) needs before the lease is up. I think I remember being told you could work with me regarding that if the situation arose when I was back in Colorado inquiring about this complex. However, after reading the lease recently after hearing plans concerning myself at work, I saw there wasn't any such clause.

I was curious if we could work something out that addressed this lease-wise along the lines of "if I were to relocate or had to leave the company I would have to pay an early termination fee of a decided amount" or whatnot.

Thanks for your consideration and thought I would ask,

(name)
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Doesn't your company general pay the buy out of you lease. most I know when you are relocated will pay for the cost of moving (including the early buy out of the lease)
 
As a landlord myself, I do year-to-year leases only.

As for your situation, I would say the chances of that being added range from 0% to well....0.1%
 
ButtUglyJeff said:
Did you already sign a lease? What's the benefit for the landlord?

This is his/her business, after all.....
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Yes I did

Benefit would be me having my company recommend them for new hires. When my employer is large and is an engineering firm, it may carry good weight

i know it sounds crazy

Rodimus Prime said:
Doesn't your company general pay the buy out of you lease. most I know when you are relocated will pay for the cost of moving (including the early buy out of the lease)
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only for like 2 months early

DiamondMac said:
As a landlord myself, I do year-to-year leases only.

As for your situation, I would say the chances of that being added range from 0% to well....0.1%
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is it foolish to ask?
 
dukebound85 said:
Yes I did
i know it sounds crazy
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Yeah, its crazy to ask. If you wanted that clause the time to do it was when you were signing the lease. That clause would essentially make the point of signing a lease for the landlord null. Landlords want you to sign a lease because it guarantees that they will have someone paying for that room/apartment/house for X amount of time; that clause allows you to up and leave at anytime and requires you to only pay a small fraction of the benefit the landlord could have possibly received on the lease contract.
 
It is worth a try, but chances are you will get the door slammed in your face. Landlords don't like giving up renters, especially in these times.
 
1) Does the existing lease allow for sub-letting?

2) What are the current default terms of the lease? Likely, the lessee is responsbile for rents until a substitute tenant can be found and all listing/broker fees to obtain that tenant.
 
daflake said:
They do it for the military. Worth asking and maybe offering to pay a bit more for rent.
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The law requires them to do it for the military, but not for just anyone.

Duke, the NY State Tenants' Rights Guide might help. It looks like your best bet, rather than asking to simply be released from the lease, is to offer to find someone who can take over the lease, but that will also require your landlord's approval.
 
It's doesn't hurt to ask.

However, I doubt that the landlord would be willing to do this since you already signed the lease. Maybe next time you renew, you could mention it them.

One thing that a landlord likes is to fill up their rentals. So if you need/want to move, finding a replacement renter that is willing to sign a lease may persuade the landlord to let you early out of your lease.
 
Tenants with leases who live in buildings with four or more
apartments have the right to sublet with the landlord’s ad-
vance consent. Any lease provision restricting a tenant’s right
to sublease is void as a matter of public policy. If the landlord
consents to the sublet, the tenant remains liable to the landlord
for the obligations of the lease, including all future rent. If the
landlord denies the sublet on reasonable grounds, the tenant
cannot sublet and the landlord is not required to release the
tenant from the lease. If the landlord denies the sublet on un-
reasonable grounds, the tenant may sublet anyway. If a law-
suit results, the tenant may recover court costs and attorney’s
fees if a judge rules that the landlord deniefaith. Real Property Law § 226-b(2).
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my lease does not allow subletting yet this makes it seem as if i can. whats the verdict?
 
dukebound85 said:
my lease does not allow subletting yet this makes it seem as if i can. whats the verdict?
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I believe you're looking to do more of an assignment than a sublet. A sublet would keep you contractually obligated to the landlord and then would contractually obligated the third party to you. This means that the third party would be paying rent to you and you would in turn pay rent to the landlord. You still maintain a level of liability for the person who is subleasing. In the case of an assignment the new person essentially takes your contract and "stands in your shoes." In this situation the third party is directly connected to the landlord, makes payments to the landlord, etc. You are essentially eliminated from dealings with the landlord.

I'm not sure how the above law applies as I'm not an attorney. What others have been discussing above, from my limited knowledge of the theory of contract law, is essentially an assignment not a sublease.
 
there's no reason to worry about it until you actually need to break your contract. People find ways to weasel out of their commitments all the time and if you actually need to do that at some point, you'll find a way.
 
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