Hi
I am in King of Prussia PA
I am in a position where I have to break my lease. My lease states that after giving a sixty day notice I can break my lease by paying three months rent. When I spoke to the manager of this complex, they said that they are going to charge me an additional two months rent. The total comes to around $4500 dollars. Is there any limit on how much the land lord can charge the tenant? Presumably they are also going to rent the apt sooner or later, in which case the three months rent they are charging will cover more than their loss from the lease. It just seems very unfair to me. Is there any forum for redressal.

If the lease says they can charge three months, that is what they can charge. They have to follow the terms of the lease

Your lease is a contract, they can only go by the lease, They cannot add extra to the amount stated in the lease. If they do, file complaint with the state attorney.

Are you sure the 2 months they referred to wasn't for the 60 days notice? Since this sounds like a large complex I would be surprised if they are trying to go against the lease. It could be you misunderstood. But if the lease specifies a 3 month penalty then that's all they can charge.

Hi
Thanks for your responses.
I am not in a position to give a sixty day notice. So they said they are charging the additional amount

The lease, essentially, requires 5 months of payment from the time you give notice. Two where you have access to the apartment, 3 where you do not. So I'm willing to bet that they can insist you pay rent for those 5 months.

When is your lease up? If it's less then 5 months, then just pay the regular monthly rent on time and don't worry about it.

I am not in a position to give a sixty day notice. So they said they are charging the additional amount

See, that's what I thought. The lease requires 60 days notice. The lease also provides for a 3 month buyout. Which means it will cost you a minimum of 5 months rent to get out of the lease.

Now, landlords are generally prohibited from double dipping (re-renting the unit while taking money from the previous tenant. Check to see if PA laws prohibit that (there are links to the PA laws in the stickies on the top of this forum). That would mean that, when and if they rent the unit, they would refund you the difference.