Hello all...
I live in Virginia, and I currently reside with two other roommates. One of them is moving out around June 18 to a condo she purchased in Washington DC. Our lease which was signed on November 1, 2004 does not terminate until October 31, 2005. Our rent for our apartment is $1255 a month, which amounts to $418.34 (estimate) each per month.
We have a subtenant moving in on June 18 to take over her portion of the lease from June 18 through August 21. The subtenant is paying $650 a month including utilities for her time in our apartment, for a total of $1400 for the duration of her sublease. The subtenant will pay all the rent in advance upon her arrival to me by check.
We are not going through the apartment management company and "officially" subleasing per se, as the fees to change names on our leases at our apartment complex are outrageously high ($150 for a name change on a lease - is that legal...they claim it is administrative costs). You can lecture me if you want about the legality of subleasing without landlord approval, but the subtenant is a student on summer internship with no belongings and no vehicle, and she will only be living with us for two months.
The departing tenant will pay her June rent in full ($418.34) to the apartment leasing office on June 1, and she will also pay $37.50 in utility charges (we have phone, cable TV and cooling/electric that we divide by 3)before she vacates the premises. The rent is due on June 1 to the leasing office, and the departing tenant is aware and has agreed to pay her June rent in full. We are currently trying to get another subtenant for August 21 - October 28, and if we get another subtenant, we will refund a portion of the June rent to the departing tenant depending on when she completely vacates the premises. If we do not get another tenant, the departing tenant will not receive any refund for June rent and will be responsible for September and October rent as well.
However, the departing tenant has made some strange requests prior to her departure of the residence.
First, she wishes for me to give her the money paid to me by the subtenant so she can pay rent for July, August and September. After removing $160 from the original $1400 paid by the subtenant for utility costs for the duration of her sublease, I would pay $1240 to the departing tenant so she can write her own lease checks out to the apartment leasing office for July, August, September and October rent. This is fine, and I have agreed to do so. I just feel as though it is a trust issue with me paying the rent for her, and she just wants to cover her butt as it is her name that is on the lease. She has always been prompt in rent payments and I have no doubt she will fulfill this portion of the original lease agreement.
Second, the departing tenant wishes to keep her keys to the apartment and the building. Since her name is still on the lease, I do realize that she has the right and can keep her keys, but we need copies of the keys for the incoming subtenant. Also, the main key to our building says "do not duplicate" so will she have to surrender this key to us upon her departure since it cannot be copied? We need to be able to give a key to the building to the incoming subtenant. Another thing is security. Though her name is on the lease, we do not want the departing tenant coming and going freely into the apartment after she has moved out. Can we suggest that she informs the current tenants when she will be stopping by the apartment for any reason, or is this not legal? Is it true that as long as she is on the lease, she is allowed free reign and access to the apartment providing that she has her keys and pays rent? We just want to ask this for our own safety and security, and knowing who is coming in and going out of the apartment is a concern of ours.
Third, the departing tenant is scheduled to be out of the apartment by June 18. Can we legally charge her for storing items in the apartment beyond her departure date (i.e., not refund the part of her rent from June should we get another subtenant or charge her a holding fee for storage on top of the monthly rent if we do not get a subtenant)? She is still technically on the lease, does she have a right to store items there even though it isn't her primary residence?
Fourth, the departing tenant wishes to keep her garage access card and parking sticker even though she will not be living there. The current tenants will have a right to park in this space but can only access it with the garage access card. Should the departing tenant have to surrender her garage access card upon her vacating the apartment, since she will not be using the space on a daily basis after she moves out? I feel that she should have to give the access card to the current tenants so they can use the space since they will be the primary residents of the dwelling. However, the departing tenant will still be on the lease...so she probably has the right to keep the access card, right? Please advise.
Lastly, as the departing tenant is still on the lease, she is liable to assist the current residents with clean up and maintenance of the apartment prior to the lease termination on October 31, 2005. The departing tenant paid $75 in a security deposit when the lease was signed, so if she wishes to have any part of that deposit, she should help in the final inspection and cleaning of the unit...am I correct? Also, before the current tenants depart the apartment and turn in the keys to the leasing office, is it required that the departing tenant have to be present and turn in her keys and sign off on any other items that need to be turned in (parking pass, garage access card, laundry card, pool pass, etc)? She is still on the lease, so I am almost certain that she has to be present when the lease terminates and all apartment property is turned over to the leasing office.
If you could help me out, it would be much appreciated. I have drafted a lease document for the departing tenant to sign and I can e-mail it to you if you wish to review it for me and give me your feedback.
Please contact me at polishprincess@gmail.com if you can help me!
Thanks!

