I broke my lease with my old apartment and the law is I am liable for damages but they have to find a tenant as soon as possible. Basically I have to pay them rent until they lease the apartment.
Here's the question: Can I deduct my security deposit from the my last payment? My lease doesn't say I forfeit my security deposit for breaking the lease. But it does say I cannot use the security deposit for paying rent. But I'm not paying rent, I'm paying damages (for lost rent). Isn't covering damages what the security deposit is for? Did I just come up with some clever tenant hack? (Keep in mind, I'm still going be paying thousands of dollars until they fill the unit.)
Landlording is one of the few "professions" where lost profits are pursuable as realized profits by way of state violence.
Differs from state to state but where I practice, deposits can be used to cover unpaid rent and physical damage. Nothing else. But, it is exceedingly rare for landlords to bother suing anyone for a money judgment after they’ve moved out. They’ll sue at the drop of a hat for possession if you miss a month’s payment, but even when you’re ten months behind they usually just get a possession judgment/eviction order and call it a day. Granted, most of the folks who end up in eviction court are broke so that’s probably why they don’t bother trying to collect after eviction, so your mileage may vary depending on your apparent income level. But my point is that the same is doubly true for unpaid months on a lease the tenant has prematurely terminated. They’ll usually just eat the “loss” if you don’t pay them. Even better if you have an argument that they somehow breached the lease themselves (e.g. were not fully attentive to repair requests). As always though, my best advice would be to contact your local free legal aid. They have income eligibility restrictions but generally don’t make you provide proof of eligibility.
This is a burner account so I'm free to say I'm in wisconsin. We've got this weird "Tenant Resource Center" that used to be a Tenant Union back in the 70s so this is what they have to say. The legal docs they link to are geo restricted though. Actually wisconsin.gov seems to be georestricted. I have to turn on my VPN to view them. But FWIW, ATCP 134.06(3)(a)2 says the landlord may withhold a security deposit for unpaid rent - in accordance with 704.29, which is all about breaking the lease but doesn't say anything about security deposits - just that I owe them rent in damages.
Is missed rent from breaking a lease "unpaid rent"? Does the lease saying "security deposits can't be applied to rent" waive their ability to withhold the security deposit for unpaid rent? Is it still "unpaid rent" if the lease is broken? Deep questions. Im glad I dont do enough drugs to be a lawyer.
Anyways, the sicko shop needs a :ham-sandwich: for Scott Walker so I can :ham-sandwich: :stalin-gun-1:
