Can i move out of my apartment with no penalty?

[salvadore94]

the apartment complex i live in gave me a notice on july 1st that they are going to increase my rent on august 1st. I HAD NO IDEA BUT THIS IS A PROVISION IN MY LEASE! I also did some research and found a way to move out, maybe. If you want to take the time here is a website i got my info from http://www.ehow.com/info_7866277_florida-landlordtenant-laws-rent-increase.html, if not here is the paragraph that is most important,


Notice
The landlord must provide the tenant with written notice of the landlord's intent to raise the rent. Under Florida law, all notices must be in writing, even if the underlying contract is an oral agreement. The notice must be provided to the tenant at least 60 days before the landlord's rental increase may take effect if the tenant signed a year-to-year lease agreement. For month-to-month tenants, the landlord must provide 15 days' notice. Weekly tenants must have seven days' notice prior to increasing the rent.

Option to Move or Renew the Lease
For both written and oral leases that permit landlords to raise rent, landlords must provide their tenants with an option to terminate the tenancy if the tenant does not agree to pay the new rental rate. If the tenant agrees to pay the new rate, then the landlord may require the tenant to sign a new agreement if the previous agreement expired. Otherwise, if the tenant pays the new rental amount, then the landlord may consider the tenant a month-to-month tenant. Landlords may end monthly tenancies with the same notice rules for raising the rent. For monthly tenants, landlords may terminate the tenancy with 15 days' notice.


so according to all this can i move out and sue if they try to hold me responsible for paying the apartment....or file against my credit??

[avikar76]

Well, you have omitted some info here:

Are you on a lease or a month to month agreement? If you are on a lease, they cannot change your rent until your lease is up. If your lease is up, yes, they can change the rent amount, but it sounds like they need to give a 60 day notice, not a 30 day one which is what the landlord seems to have done. If you are month to month, meaning you have no lease, sounds like they only need to give you a couple weeks notice, which is odd, because typically it is 30 days notice.

Second, why didn't you discuss this at the beginning of the month when they informed you? By waiting almost 2 weeks, you may be held accountable for Aug rent because I am sure your rental agreement also says you need to give a 30 day notice. That means, if you pay your rent on the 1st of the month, you would have needed to give your 30 day notice as soon as they told you in July that your rent was going up. You may end up being on the hook for Aug rent due to your inactivity.

You can sue for anything. Will you prevail? I don't think so, since you wouldn't be giving a proper 30 day written notice that you intend to vacate. Only if the landlord agrees in writing to let you leave by the end of July would you be safe from them trying to keep your deposit or suing you for Aug rent.

[pannoowau]

Well, you have omitted some info here:

Are you on a lease or a month to month agreement? If you are on a lease, they cannot change your rent until your lease is up. If your lease is up, yes, they can change the rent amount, but it sounds like they need to give a 60 day notice, not a 30 day one which is what the landlord seems to have done. If you are month to month, meaning you have no lease, sounds like they only need to give you a couple weeks notice, which is odd, because typically it is 30 days notice.

Second, why didn't you discuss this at the beginning of the month when they informed you? By waiting almost 2 weeks, you may be held accountable for Aug rent because I am sure your rental agreement also says you need to give a 30 day notice. That means, if you pay your rent on the 1st of the month, you would have needed to give your 30 day notice as soon as they told you in July that your rent was going up. You may end up being on the hook for Aug rent due to your inactivity.

You can sue for anything. Will you prevail? I don't think so, since you wouldn't be giving a proper 30 day written notice that you intend to vacate. Only if the landlord agrees in writing to let you leave by the end of July would you be safe from them trying to keep your deposit or suing you for Aug rent.

Most of the time the increase happens after the year lease is up. This is very common. If u were not given proper notice or ur lease is not up for renewal then u can talk with owner about keeping ur rent the same or terminating ur lease. Don't Just move without telling them why or they will charge u n u will have to go to Court to sort it out.