My wife and I rented a 1 bedroom 1 1/2 bath apartment in building 13 at the complex. Overall we enjoyed our experience living there. The design of the place and its surrounds put us in the middle of a good commuting area. Route 1 was just south of us. The bus to NYC picks us up at the complex. And if we needed the train, there were no issue getting to Jersey Ave. The heating bills are high because the insulation isn't good and the windows are very old. We average over $200 a month in the winter from the gas bill. For a one bedroom, ground floor apartment in a brick building, that is really bad. Other than the high price of heating our stay was not bad. However, we did take issue with their deceptivie business practices when we decided to move out.

In the rental contract you sign, you are agreeing to an automatic annual renewal of your lease. This annual renewal occurs 90 days prior to the end of your lease. To the landlord's credit, they do try to notify you with this renewal. However, they notify the tenant six months prior to the end of the lease. The problem is, few know where they will be in six months. Take my wife and I for example:

Our lease expired in August and we were notified in March that our lease is set to expire as per the 90 day clause. In March of 2009 the economy hit rock bottom, we were staying put as of then. This automatic renewal was an after thought for us.

What had happened was the interest rates, housing prices, and government tax breaks were created within that six month period that in became stupid to pay $1,500 a month in rent and instead it became too much of an opportunity to own a house.

In short, we gave written notice to the landlord 45 days prior to the expiration of our lease. We got back a nasty letter stating we were in violation of the lease. And the penalty for said violation was us to be legally obligated to the payment of our lease until the apartment is re-rented regardless of when we moved out. So basically, we were obligated to pay an ENTIRE year of rent if the apartment was not re-rented this year.

In addition, even though we moved out and have no keys to the apartment whatsoever, we are in effect, not receiving anything for our money. Just $1,500 a month wasted.

For right now, as of October 2009, we have not paid any of this money to Hidden Lake. They had in September took our security deposit (without us asking to do so) and applied it to the September rent.

My wife and I have spoken to a lawyer. Essentially, she will fight it for us, but my concern is that it may cost more money to get off the hook then to ride it out and hope it is re-rented. My wife and I just purchased our house and we don't have any reserves to pay the rent for greater than 3- months.

The lawyer told us, in hindsight, we should have presented a letter of intention to move out right after we had signed our initial rental agreement. The lawyer said, they are move laws in NJ to prevent eviction of a tenant then protecting a tenant once they decide to move out. And if we were to stay past the final day of the lease, there are even laws to protect squatters.

Our situation is unfortunate. And I hope from what I wrote, you can learn from our mistake. In our opinion, we find this current situation pretty sleazy. We had noticed others on this board having the same problem too. If it was thirty days in writing before the end of our lease, we wouldn't have a problem. If the penalty for leaving was at maximum three months rent, I would see some justification. But the letter they send you makes you feel pathetic and the community you are in feels more of a corporate entity than a home.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 10/09/2009
"I'm a tenant" ...right. Why would current tenants care to respond within a few hours of the above posted review of the property? There is no gain from their actions. And if you are speaking the truth, get ready for the fun that you will have when it is time for you to move out.
From: Anonymous	Date: 10/13/2009
Whether you approve of the fact or not, ??I am a tenant,?? and I responded as quickly as I did because I, like you, am registered with this site and receive email notification when a review has been posted or updated. And what do I gain from doing so? Simply, this: truth and fairness. It was my sole intention to correct some grossly erroneous assumptions by simply pointing out that all contracts have conditions and most have penalties of one sort or another for early termination. Just because you find the terms of a contract inconvenient or difficult after the fact does not render them invalid. Changes can be made to contract, but only if *all* parties concerned agree to the renegotiated terms, which may have been worth a try. I, like many others, live here by choice and not by default and as such, I am well aware of my responsibilities should I choose to terminate my lease either at its negotiated end or earlier. You are free to live, or not live, wherever and however you please, but your dissatisfaction with the legal terms of your tenancy is not tantamount to deception, and does not give you license to disseminate unwarranted or unjustified defamatory commentary.
From: bella3987	Date: 10/14/2009
I don't know who the Anonymous poster above me is (10/13/09), but that wasn't me (bella3987) responding to you. But they are correct. The reason I responded so quickly was because I am registered with the site and get notification in my email when someone posts a new review of the complex I live in. And like the person who posted on 10/13, the reason I DID respond was because the complex has treated me well. I have enjoyed my time here. We are leaving in December ONLY to be closer to our families and we are terminating the lease early. But we followed the rules of early termination. IF they are able to rent out the apartment, we are under no obligation to pay them the remainder of our lease. If not, we have to finish the lease. Those are the rules. Read your contract fully next time you rent an apartment so you can avoid your own stupidity next time.

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