College apartment

Collegeparentingishard

Earning My Ears
Joined
Mar 17, 2019
My son rented an off campus apartment in a student housing complex when he was 20. We had to sign as guarantors on the lease. The next year at renewal we didn't have to re-sign only he did. This July he renewed again. Unfortunately soon after he began having severe mental health issues, spent time in the hospital and was diagnosed with depression/bi polar. He withdrew from that school several hours from home and moved home. He has since re enrolled in a local college, started working and thankfully is on a good path with medication and counseling.

During this time, we've been paying his rent and he started contributing when he was able. The complex told him they were trying to sublease his apartment but until that point he was responsible for rent. I was hopeful he could get out of the lease due to the medical issues but complex has said no. At this point we're struggling financially to keep this up. We have thought about not paying but the complex is now saying they will sue us (parents) if he doesnt pay the rest of his lease. Since we haven't signed the last two leases, I'm not sure this is true.

Does anyone have experience with breaking a lease?
 
We’ve had to co-sign for both our boys college apartments. I actually read the lease with son #1. It looked like they had spelled out every possible scenario you could have about needing to break the lease and put in the lease that it wasn’t allowed.

My older son subleased his apartment one summer. There was a Facebook group for his college for people needing short term housing. Maybe your college has one also? We opted to pay part of the rent for the sublease. Paying less rent was better than paying it all since he was interning in downtown Atlanta and would not have lived in his apartment anyway.

Edited to add - don’t stop paying rent. Older son just got his first “real” apartment after college and they ran his credit report with all 3 agencies. If he had defaulted on a college lease, he most likely would not have qualified for his current lease.
 
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Give the complex 30 days notice. In our state, after you move out the complex can then rent the apartment to someone else. As soon as they rent it, you are no longer responsible for the lease. If they can't rent after you move then you are responsible for the remainder of the lease.

Check your state tenant laws.
 
look at the lease HE signed. the one you signed would have had a from and through date. when he entered into a new lease that you did not sign it should have removed you from any financial obligation that they could base a lawsuit against you on.
 


The complex told him they were trying to sublease his apartment but until that point he was responsible for rent. I was hopeful he could get out of the lease due to the medical issues but complex has said no. At this point we're struggling financially to keep this up. We have thought about not paying but the complex is now saying they will sue us (parents) if he doesnt pay the rest of his lease. Since we haven't signed the last two leases, I'm not sure this is true.

While the complex might be helping to find a sublessee, it is ultimately not their responsibility to do so. It is up to the lessee to find a sublessee. So they might not be doing it as aggressively as one could be doing it. You or your son will have to be more aggressive about finding avenues to advertise the apartment. There should be online groups & pages. The campus may have an off-center which helps students find places off-campus, in which you can advertise or post flyers for. Advertise in local newspapers.

You may have to drop the rent down to make it a great steal. 80% of the rent coming in and you paying 20% is better than nothing. The end of the semester is only a couple months away. Advertise the place is available till then. Then re-advertise the place as available for the summer-only term. Hopefully by the beginning of the Fall semester, the complex will find someone to take over the lease.

If you stop paying for the apartment, a default may go on your son's credit rating and appear on background checks. He may never be able to rent another apartment, as almost all landlords do a background check nowadays.
 
Look at what the lease agreement for him states in regards to:

1) Subleasing
2) If there is information regarding finding subleasing; meaning does the place assist you, do they have you contact the clubhouse for additional aide/information, is the responsibility on the signer of the lease, etc.
3) What are the conditions for breaking the lease. Most of the time financially speaking breaking the lease tends to be disadvantageous but there are times when it may not be. Even if financially it may not be worth it it could be to be done and over with on the lease and move on.
4) Renewal conditions. You assume because you didn't sign the renewal that you are not responsible. I would double check on that in terms of the renewal conditions. Did he meet the conditions where he could sign on his own or was it a "once we have a co-signer on file" type situation.

What I would not suggest doing is to just stop paying. Suing or no suing it's not advisable because of the possible ramifications such as hit on credit score, it being on record for failure to pay rent, etc.
 
What does the lease say about breaking it? In some states, there are laws that the landlord must mitigate their damages. If you provide 30 days notice that you're leaving, after that 30 days has expired, the complex would need to rent out the apartment within a reasonable amount of time to mitigate the damage. So, you may have to pay for a month or two if it goes unrented, but some landlord laws will prohibit them from sitting back and suing you for the difference if they make no effort to rent it out. Subleasing is another option, but I agree with PP that you should be proactive on this since its more of an urgent matter for you, and not the complex. Especially if you're still paying.

I'm not sure of the legalities behind whether they can sue you - perhaps because you're the one making the payments? At a minimum, they could sue your son who's over the age of 18. But again, I don't think they can sue for the difference in the lease - only whatever they are out before they could rent out again (i.e. two month's rent after your 30 day notice).
 


Our oldest daughter moved apartments specifically to a company that allowed sublets because she knew she only needed it for one semester. Part of her selection process was finding a location where odds were high someone would want the unit. It was on her to find a renter and she had located 2 people by the end of October. One wanted to move in early January for the following semester and did not want the summer. One is actually the person whose least was supposed to begin late the following August for the next school year. That person actually was looking for early move in, which the apartments didn't provide because the leases cover the school year through most of the summer, with only a short time for them to clean/paint the units before the new school year starts. My daughter was very fortunate that she was able to work a deal where the next person assumed the lease in the summer and she didn't have to cover the summer months herself if it would have been vacant. The apartment complex stepped in and restructured the new official lease on the unit to begin in May, removing my daughter from the sublet situation altogether for the summer. She was very, very lucky to find the needle in the haystack. She was fully expecting to cover May, June and July rent on the empty apartment expected wouldn't rent.
 
You can break ANY lease, at least in my state. There is a fee for doing so, but it is far cheaper than continuing to pay the remainder of the lease. What state is this in?
 
You can break ANY lease, at least in my state. There is a fee for doing so, but it is far cheaper than continuing to pay the remainder of the lease. What state is this in?
If you're in CA like I think you are it's not necessarily cheaper than continuing to pay the remainder of the lease nor is it just a fee for doing so.

My husband has a field assignment near LA starting next month.

The breaking of the lease options varied from 2 months rent, to a set fee, to you having to find someone to rent the remainder of the lease, to you having to pay for the lease still even after vacating until the apartment complex finds someone else to rent.

NOW we didn't go all looking at the legal laws on renter's rights but the above information was from the lease agreements.
 
If you're in CA like I think you are it's not necessarily cheaper than continuing to pay the remainder of the lease nor is it just a fee for doing so.

My husband has a field assignment near LA starting next month.

The breaking of the lease options varied from 2 months rent, to a set fee, to you having to find someone to rent the remainder of the lease, to you having to pay for the lease still even after vacating until the apartment complex finds someone else to rent.

NOW we didn't go all looking at the legal laws on renter's rights but the above information was from the lease agreements.

We broke a lease once in CA. It was just a flat fee of 2 months rent. Depending on the monthly rent and how long is left on the lease, yeah, it might be cheaper to just keep paying. My experience was with a large corporate owned apartment complex, and the lease break clause was very straightforward.

In LA, apartments rarely sit empty, so I wouldn't worry about any place not being able to find a tenant within a month at most.

In a college town, it is likely harder to find a tenant in the middle of the school year.
 
We broke a lease once in CA. It was just a flat fee of 2 months rent. Depending on the monthly rent and how long is left on the lease, yeah, it might be cheaper to just keep paying. My experience was with a large corporate owned apartment complex, and the lease break clause was very straightforward.

In LA, apartments rarely sit empty, so I wouldn't worry about any place not being able to find a tenant within a month at most.

In a college town, it is likely harder to find a tenant in the middle of the school year.
No I get you. I'm just responding to your comment. It's neither just a fee nor always cheaper to do so. It varied depending on the complex in CA and that is the same story here in my area.

As for apartments sitting empty correct. My husband's company will pay to break your lease when you are on work assignment and it's common to have to break leases because they are out there where the time you are there can and often does change. However they wouldn't approve an apartment complex with an undetermined clause for breaking the lease. His company requires it basically to be a set fee or at max 2 months of rent. Finding your own renter to complete the lease or being on the hook for however long it took for the complex to find a renter was going to be unacceptable. So that kinda took those apartment complexes with those kinds of terms out of the running. He found a place that was 2 months rent I believe to break the lease so we're good there.

I do agree they are usually straightforward in terms of what it takes to break your lease which is why I mentioned earlier to the OP to check what the lease says.

Without going into a long story in my area we found ourselves paying 3 rents (2 apartments plus a rental house) at the same time for 2months, dropping down to 2 rents (1 apartment plus a rental house) at the same time for an additional 2 months after that all because of the lease breaking stipulations. Breaking the lease for those apartments was financially disadvantegous and paying their rents in additional to another rent was financially better.
 
Thanks everyone. I'm trying to find the original lease but I've tasked my son to call and talk to the compex and find out what they are doing to rent the apartment. I'm in agreement that mid term it's going to be hard. We've tried to be hands off and let him handle it but guide him when needed.
 
First of all, I'm glad that your son is doing well {{hugs}}.

I would start with the college an see if they have a clearing house for housing and sublets. There may also be a Facebook group for leases and sublets. Price it aggressively, not what you're paying. You may not be able to sublease it in the middle of the semester, but you may be able to sublease the summer if the lease goes that long.
 

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