Pswooof
Jun 18, 2008, 11:21 AM
Hello,
I have 2 questions regarding breaking a 14 month lease with 8 month left on it.
#1 I have 2 small dogs who are welcome in my community and acceptable per my lease. I pay a $50 extra rental charge for them. When I was searching for my apartment I was walked around the community and told that dogs were welcome on the grass areas and in fact they were putting in pet stations near them. Grass access is important as I live in the desert and with the summer temps reaching over 110 + the pavement gets to hot for my dogs to walk on. My lease had very clear pet policies and they do not include pets not being allowed on the grass. A fees months after moving in, I received a notice that Pets were no longer able to be on the grass due to the cost to maintan the yellow spots. When I questioned the manager and indicated that I was paying extra for my dogs to live there she indicated that the $50 per month I was paying is actually a pet deposit. Hmmm my lease does not indicate that. At any rate would I be able to break my lease under this circumstance?
#2 I was given a rent concession of 2 months free rent when I moved in. It actually reduced my monthly rent amount. In my lease it indicates that if I break the lease I would need to repay that amount. I was told by an attorney that this indicates that it is really not a lease that it is a month to month as they can not have a 14 month lease term, offer free rent and them make me pay it back if I did. It has something to do with it being a illegal attempt to get around the nonrefundable deposit laws in CA. Is this true?
Thanks
I have 2 questions regarding breaking a 14 month lease with 8 month left on it.
#1 I have 2 small dogs who are welcome in my community and acceptable per my lease. I pay a $50 extra rental charge for them. When I was searching for my apartment I was walked around the community and told that dogs were welcome on the grass areas and in fact they were putting in pet stations near them. Grass access is important as I live in the desert and with the summer temps reaching over 110 + the pavement gets to hot for my dogs to walk on. My lease had very clear pet policies and they do not include pets not being allowed on the grass. A fees months after moving in, I received a notice that Pets were no longer able to be on the grass due to the cost to maintan the yellow spots. When I questioned the manager and indicated that I was paying extra for my dogs to live there she indicated that the $50 per month I was paying is actually a pet deposit. Hmmm my lease does not indicate that. At any rate would I be able to break my lease under this circumstance?
#2 I was given a rent concession of 2 months free rent when I moved in. It actually reduced my monthly rent amount. In my lease it indicates that if I break the lease I would need to repay that amount. I was told by an attorney that this indicates that it is really not a lease that it is a month to month as they can not have a 14 month lease term, offer free rent and them make me pay it back if I did. It has something to do with it being a illegal attempt to get around the nonrefundable deposit laws in CA. Is this true?
Thanks