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  1. #1

    Default Breaking the Lease Due to Leaving the U.S. (Expiring Visa)

    Hi,

    I currently have a lease in place until the end of August 2009 in New York. When I signed the 14-month lease back in July 2008, I told the Leasing Office that I may need to be relocated out of the country before my lease ended.

    The Leasing Office told me that they would let me break the lease early if I gave them advance (1-2 months) notice of my situation and cooperated with them if they wanted to find a new tenant (allow potential new tenants to visit the unit, etc).

    I have just notified them that I will be leaving on May 1st (more than 3 months notice). However, the Leasing Office is now telling me that I cannot break the lease early. When I remind them of our conversation earlier, they tell me that this is not expressed in the lease. I am wondering if I have any legal rights as a tenant in this case.

    There are a couple of issues which I believe constitutes a violation of our lease on the landlord's part as well. Namely,

    1. Our lease states that our luxury apartment would have a functional lobby (which wasn't put into place 6 months into our lease).

    2. I complained multiple times that our elevators weren't safe (the display lights do not work, elevator door has trouble opening&closing). Nothing is done regarding this issue.

    3. After we moved in as one of the earliest tenants, the building management had difficulty filling up the apartment and started giving huge discounts to new tenants (which we don't enjoy). Moreover, they started giving huge flat screen TVs as a promotion to all new incoming tenants (which we didn't get). -- This reminds me a lot about how Apple reduced the price of the iPhone and was later ordered by Court to pay a refund to those customers who had bought their iPhones by paying a premium earlier.

    How should I deal with this situation?
    Can I use #1-3 above to sue my landlord or convince them to break my lease early?

    I'm not from the United States and have little knowledge of the legal procedures. Therefore, I greatly appreciate any guidance on the matter.

    Many thanks,
    calculator_us

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Breaking the Lease Due to Leaving the U.S. (Expiring Visa)

    Did they admit having told you that you could break the lease, or did they deny it? If you can get them to admit it in a manner you can present in court (a writing or recording made consistent with your state's laws) you may be able to enforce it.

    If you are stating that the lobby took longer than expected to complete, but is now complete, that's hardly a basis to raise an objection now - the time to object would have been before completion. Form what you say, that particular issue is now resolved.

    If you believe the elevators are unsafe, and the landlord has not satisfactorily resolved the problem, make a housing complaint with whatever unit of government has jurisdiction over your apartment building. Your belief that the elevator's unsafe does not actually mean that the elevators are unsafe.

    You may not like the fact that later tenants got better deals than you, or that they got incentives, but such is life. You made your own bargain.

  3. #3

    Default Re: Breaking the Lease Due to Leaving the U.S. (Expiring Visa)

    Hey, Thanks for your reply.

    A couple of follow-up questions:

    1. You are saying that complaining about the lobby today is a wasted attempt since the problem has now been resolved. However, we have paid them 6 months' worth of rent based on a contract which states that we would have a fully functional lobby from Day 1. Doesn't this imply that we have been overpaid for six months and should be eligible for a refund? Determining how much we have overpaid by is a difficult question, but I believe there certainly is a breach of our lease agreement by the management. What is your take on this?

    2. I read on another web site that accordingly to New York State laws, landlords have the responsibility to make good effort in helping the tenant find a subletter for the apartment (in cases like ours). Do you think I have any leverage to force my landlord to at least agree to help me find a subletter?

    Thanks,

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