First of all, I'd like to remind the "nerd" (word used with respect) tenants, who
stick their heads in books or in front of computer monitors, to be full aware
of this early termination trap.
I am also soliciting suggestions for minimizing my lost -- a hefty penalty for
early termination.
My lease is suppose to terminate by Oct 31. I bought a house recently and try
to terminate my lease by Aug 31. Last Saturday, I stopped by the leasing
office to inform them I am leaving. ----- (-------?) told me I have to pay the
rent of the remaining two months. I were stunned. When I renew
my lease in this April, I did a math in a hope to minimize my lost. Of course,
I need to take into account the early termination penalty.
I check my previous agreement, there is no item about early termination.
One of the ladies in the leasing office told me there are two options for early termination:
1) liable for rent until the lease term expires or the premises are re-let,
whichever happens first.
2) pay cancellation free.
"re-let" sounds to me a big joke. What the hell motivates Park Kiely to
re-let my unit? At very least, tenants don't have control over re-let. Then, I asked
what is the cancellation free. They told me the penalty is only one month rent.
It sounded reasonable. I insisted on a signed agreement on the cancellation free.
I was rejected. I thought Park Kiely is a big company, it is unlikely they can afford
playing something filthy or unprofessional. I were wrong!
I am wondering if the agreements signed between Park Kiely and its tenant
are legal at all. There are no words about early termination. At the time the
tenant want to leave early for some reasons, the Park Kiely can charge arbitrary amount
of penalty!
I am pretty much a law nut. could somebody shed some light on it?
I moved to CA from east coast in Oct, 2007. I subleased the unit, where I have
been living ever since, from an ------ sw engineer who was going to return to his
home country. Honestly, I don't like archstone, I don't hate either. At least,
the rent and utility were quite reasonable, and the people in rental office were
quite friendly. After Park Kiely took over, the rent keeps rising, and the utility
doubled overnight; however, the condition remain the same if not worse. I decided
to leave. I soon changed my mind, in the midst of economic downturn, I am better off
living there just in case I need to change job and need to move accordingly. So,
I have to renew two short-term lease with Park Kiely.