Can You Break a Lease if the Landlord Can't Provide the Promised Unit
My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: California
My daughter signed a apartment lease near her college. As of now she has not moved into the rental. Recently (15 days prior to move in) the owners of the property say that the building is not ready and that they will provide equivalent housing. Unfortunately the new location given is over five miles away from campus and not within walking distance as the original location. Because of this we told them that the location would not work and wanted to break the agreement. They notified me that all this was within the rental agreement and we were still obligated to the original contract. While I do see some copy related to this Im not 100% were we stand legally. Any help or advice regarding this would be greatly appreciated.
Here is a copy of Section 1 of the contract.
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SECTION 1 - TERM
1. Term: Commencing on: August 1, 2016 and ending on: July 31, 2017 at 12:00pm NOON. If tenant[s] move in prior to the
commencement date, all terms and conditions of this agreement shall be in full force. Landlord shall use its best efforts to
put Tenant in possession of the Premises on the beginning of the Rental Agreement term. If Landlord is unable to timely
provide the Premises, rent shall abate for the period of delay at the pro-rated rental amount. Tenant shall make no other
claim against Landlord for any such delay. No failure of Landlord to enforce any term hereof shall be deemed a waiver of
said term, nor shall any acceptance of partial payment of rent be deemed a waiver of Landlord's right to the full amount
thereof. The tenants will be held jointly and severally liable for the terms of this Agreement.
2. Guarantors: Guarantors are subject to Landlord approval and terms that required completion of the "Student Housing
Guaranty Agreement" addendum. Tenant(s) agree to pay an additional 10% increase of the monthly rental rate if
Landlord does not receive completed Guarantor Application and Guaranty Agreement within ten (10) days of the
execution of this Agreement. Tenant(s) without Landlord approved Guarantors are subject to a larger deposit equivalent
to two (2) times the monthly rental amount.
3. Surrender of Premises: Tenant agrees on the last day of the term of this Agreement by 12PM to vacate and surrender to
Landlord the Premises. Failure to do so will result in Holdover Charges (See Section 1, #8).
4. Multiple Tenants: Each Tenant is jointly and severally liable for all Rental Agreement obligations, including and
without limitation the payment of rent and fees. If Tenant, any invitee or occupant violates the Rental Agreement or
rules of the SHP, all Tenants are considered to have violated the Rental Agreement. Requests and notices to any Tenant
constitute notices to all Tenants and Occupants. Notices and requests from any one Tenant shall constitute notice from all
Tenants.
5. Early Termination: If for any reason Tenant vacates the Premises prior to the term as agreed in the Lease Agreement or
any Extension Period, Tenant shall pay 100% of the costs to re-lease the Premises until such time that the Premises is
re-rented. Tenant shall be responsible to pay for lost rents for the remainder of the Agreement Term as they become due if
Landlord is not able to rent to a new resident. If Landlord is not able to rent to a new resident at the same Agreement Rent,
Tenant will be responsible to pay the difference for the remainder of the Agreement Term.
6. Assignment / New Tenant Addition & Fee Terms: No portion of said Premises shall be sublet nor this agreement
assigned without Landlords prior written approval and completion of the New Tenant Addition Procedure (See New Tenant
Addition Procedure addendum). All violations will be subject to a fine.
a. Change in Terms and or Conditions Fee: Any change in Terms and Conditions in the Agreement shall incur a fee of
$200.00 payable by Tenant in advance.
7. Renewal of Student Housing Rental Agreement: Provided that Tenant shall not then be in default hereunder, Tenant
shall have the option to extend the term of this Agreement for one (1) additional term upon the same terms and conditions
herein contained, except for fixed minimum monthly rental. Tenant understands that the security deposit of the original
rental agreement will rollover to the renewal rental agreement and as such, will not be refunded until the end of the
renewal term. Renewal request may be asked in writing, of the Tenant up to eight (8) months prior to the move out date.
Renewal request received within eight (8) months of the lease end date are subject to Landlord approval. Tenant will pay
to Landlord a holding fee equivalent to 20% of the monthly renewal rental rate. This fee will be nonrefundable in the event
that the Tenant fails to complete any of the following:
a. If requested by Landlord, a new rental application must be filled out by all Tenants
b. If requested by Landlord, Tenant must provide qualified guarantors of the rental agreement XXXXXXX
Initials: ***SIGN HERE*** { XXX } ***SIGN HERE*** { XXX }
c. Signing of a new lease agreement by all Tenants All paperwork and documentation associated with the renewal
process must be properly completed and received by Landlord before the mutually agreed upon and established date
by both Tenant and Landlord as outlined in the attached Renewal Letter of Intent Addendum (RLOI). If Tenant
completes the leasing process by said date, the holding fee will be considered a portion of the first month's rent for the
renewal rental term.
8. Holdover Damages: Tenant agrees not to extend their occupancy in the SHP without prior written approval from Landlord.
Tenant understands and agrees that any un-authorized holdover will delay the Landlord in preparing the unit for in-coming
Tenants causing extreme hardship resulting in monetary losses to Landlord. Tenant agrees to pay, in advance $150.00 per
day as damage to Landlord for any un-authorized holdover. The terms and conditions of this Agreement shall remain in full
force except the daily rental amount during the un-authorized holdover period by Tenant.
9. Cancellation Policy: There will be no cancellation or grace period to opt-out once the Rental Agreement is executed by
the parties.
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Re: Advice Breaking a Rental Agreement in California
Paragraph 1 is what counts.
There is nothing in there that obligates her to accept alternative housing, especially since 5 miles further is not "equivalent" housing.
All that paragraph says is that she doesn't have to pay rent if there is a delay in occupancy of THAT UNIT.
Trouble is, if he's already got your money, he isn't going to give it back without you going to court, so be prepared for that.
Did he say when that unit will be available? If it's available by the time school starts it might still work but if he can't put her into it before that, he's in breach.
The other problem is getting her another place this late in the game. Have you looked for other places? He may have you over a barrel if there is nothing else available as close as she wants to be.
Re: Advice Breaking a Rental Agreement in California
The lease does not allow you to terminate the lease due to the unit not being available at the moment. It says they won't charge you for the time you cannot use the unit.
How long are they talking about for a delay?
Re: Advice Breaking a Rental Agreement in California
Do they have a section that defines the word Premises? Should be above Section 1.....does it state a specific apartment complex/unit?
Re: Advice Breaking a Rental Agreement in California
Quote:
Quoting
adjusterjack
Paragraph 1 is what counts.
There is nothing in there that obligates her to accept alternative housing, especially since 5 miles further is not "equivalent" housing.
All that paragraph says is that she doesn't have to pay rent if there is a delay in occupancy of THAT UNIT.
Trouble is, if he's already got your money, he isn't going to give it back without you going to court, so be prepared for that.
Did he say when that unit will be available? If it's available by the time school starts it might still work but if he can't put her into it before that, he's in breach.
The other problem is getting her another place this late in the game. Have you looked for other places? He may have you over a barrel if there is nothing else available as close as she wants to be.
Thank You for all the replies.
Right now we have not made any payments to the landlord and they have been trying to offer other locations (hotel) closer to the campus at a discounted rate of 20% off the regular rental agreement until the original unit is ready.
The unit will not be available for a few more months at the earliest and school is already starting in 7 days.
Lucky my daughter has got another place to stay close to campus where she wanted but is now placing her roommate in a bad position as they were both on the lease together (plus co-signers) and her roommate agreed to move to the new location further away from the campus. When speaking with the property management company they said they would accept 2 months of rent which is due in their eyes and allow my daughter to get out of the lease if she or the current roommate find a qualified replacement.
Quote:
Quoting
jk
The lease does not allow you to terminate the lease due to the unit not being available at the moment. It says they won't charge you for the time you cannot use the unit.
How long are they talking about for a delay?
They are expecting a delay of at least 2-3 months and the lease is for 1 year.
Quote:
Quoting
hr for me
Do they have a section that defines the word Premises? Should be above Section 1.....does it state a specific apartment complex/unit?
YES there is a definition for PREMISES which is the address and unit number of the apartment.
Re: Advice Breaking a Rental Agreement in California
Quote:
Quoting
DanielKaffee
Thank You for all the replies.
Right now we have not made any payments to the landlord and they have been trying to offer other locations (hotel) closer to the campus at a discounted rate of 20% off the regular rental agreement until the original unit is ready.
The unit will not be available for a few more months at the earliest and school is already starting in 7 days.
Lucky my daughter has got another place to stay close to campus where she wanted but is now placing her roommate in a bad position as they were both on the lease together (plus co-signers) and her roommate agreed to move to the new location further away from the campus. When speaking with the property management company they said they would accept 2 months of rent which is due in their eyes and allow my daughter to get out of the lease if she or the current roommate find a qualified replacement.
They are expecting a delay of at least 2-3 months and the lease is for 1 year.
YES there is a definition for PREMISES which is the address and unit number of the apartment.
The landlord cannot hold your daughter responsible for something the roommate agreed to do. The landlord is full of hot air in my opinion.
Re: Advice Breaking a Rental Agreement in California
Just an update.
Since my last post my daughter has found a person to take over her portion of the lease as requested by the rental company. Unfortunately her roommate found out and contacted the new renter and told her not to bother because she wanted her own person/friend to rent the room. All of this caused the new renter to loose interest and now my daughter and her roommate are still on the lease agreement together.
At this point I think since no keys or payment have been taken by my daughter Im going to tell all parties involved to pound dirt since we have tried to meet all their request.
Would this be my best avenue to put all this to rest?
Any and all suggestions welcomed.
Re: Advice Breaking a Rental Agreement in California
Quote:
Quoting
DanielKaffee
Just an update.
Since my last post my daughter has found a person to take over her portion of the lease as requested by the rental company. Unfortunately her roommate found out and contacted the new renter and told her not to bother because she wanted her own person/friend to rent the room. All of this caused the new renter to loose interest and now my daughter and her roommate are still on the lease agreement together.
At this point I think since no keys or payment have been taken by my daughter Im going to tell all parties involved to pound dirt since we have tried to meet all their request.
Would this be my best avenue to put all this to rest?
My personal opinion is that the landlord does not have a leg to stand on...so tell them to pound dirt/sand all you want. Unfortunately, a decent percentage of landlords in college towns tend to be predatory.