Are there laws in SC regarding breaking a lease (ie... you owe the landlord a certain amount of money?) Or is it simply what the lease states ?


Also... how long after you move out does the landlord have to invoice you for monies they feel are due to them ?

Your question is too broad. Tell us the exact situation.

Your question is too broad. Tell us the exact situation.

We rented a house in march.in July we decided to purchase a house. We did break our lease.(lease was very generic... 3 page form downloaded from internet... hand written in ). The lease said nothing about any penalties for breaking it.we gave 30 days notice. Landlord was very nice. We showed the house for her about 10 times within that 30 days.we moved out and new people moved in. They have been there about a month.
We just received an invoice from her about rent due since we broke lease... damages that weren't there but of course I can't prove that.
Why did it take so long for her to get us this ?
She wants a little over $1000 from us if we pay within 30 days... if not it doubles.
She says she has consulted an attorney...
Suggestions?

The reason that penalties for breaking a one year lease are not spelled out is because it is a given that a one year lease means you owe rent for a year. Your landlord could have sued you for the whole rest of the year, regardless of what was or wasn't said. However, if someone replaces you, the LL can't collect twice, so you only owe for rent between when you last paid for and lived there, and when the new tenant started paying.
The LL can sue you for damages if you are notified within 30 days of moving out and if proof of costs to repair the damages are provided. Damages can't just 'double' per se, but legal costs can be added for taking you to court.
Lastly, it's possible that the LL can sue you for costs associated with advertising for a new tenant, but you don't mention that.
I don't know what your monthly rent was nor what damages are claimed, so negotiating an amount is up to you. The house could have been left empty and you could have had a slam dunk judgment against you of 7 more full months rent!

What I'm wondering here, is why you think you can just break a lease at all? A lease is a contract. Unless the contract provides for an early termination clause, you can't break it. So, even though you gave 30 days notice, you are liable for all rental until the either the property is rented or the lease expires.

So the good news is that the property was rented quickly. There is other good news for you. The landlord has 30 days from the day you vacate to either return your deposit or a statement identifying how the deposit was used. South Carolina Security Deposit Law (http://landlords.about.com/od/LegalIssues/a/South-Carolina-Security-Deposit-Law.htm) If he does not mail either a check and/or statement within that deadline, she forfeits the right to withhold the deposit and makes her liable for treble damages.

Hmm in rereading this, you don't mention a security deposit. So now I'm wondering if the deposit was returned and the landlord is now suing you. It's also not clear whether you paid all the rental due.

If the deposit was returned, she would have plenty of time to file suit for monies owed.

What I'm wondering here, is why you think you can just break a lease at all? A lease is a contract. Unless the contract provides for an early termination clause, you can't break it. So, even though you gave 30 days notice, you are liable for all rental until the either the property is rented or the lease expires.

So the good news is that the property was rented quickly. There is other good news for you. The landlord has 30 days from the day you vacate to either return your deposit or a statement identifying how the deposit was used. South Carolina Security Deposit Law (http://landlords.about.com/od/LegalIssues/a/South-Carolina-Security-Deposit-Law.htm) If he does not mail either a check and/or statement within that deadline, she forfeits the right to withhold the deposit and makes her liable for treble damages.

Hmm in rereading this, you don't mention a security deposit. So now I'm wondering if the deposit was returned and the landlord is now suing you. It's also not clear whether you paid all the rental due.

If the deposit was returned, she would have plenty of time to file suit for monies owed.

We did not break the lease "on purpose" or to be mean or anything.ive rented for 17yrs and never ever broken a lease. I figured when I told her we were purchasing a house if she needed/ wanted the lease paid out she would state that and we were " prepared" for that at that time.
She did not return deposit.. . nor did we ever consider asking for it back.

All rent was paid as due up to when we moved out.
House was cleaned and we made sure the yard was mowed etc before we left.

We did not break the lease "on purpose" or to be mean or anything.ive rented for 17yrs and never ever broken a lease. I figured when I told her we were purchasing a house if she needed/ wanted the lease payed out she would state that and we were " prepared" for that at that time.
she did not return deposit. ..nor did we ever consider asking for it back.

all rent was paid as due up to when we moved out.
house was cleaned and we made sure the yard was mowed etc before we left.

Of course you broke the lease on purpose. Were you forced to buy your own house? You made a decision to buy your own place, even though you were under contract. If you had planned on this, you would had an early termination clause written into the lease. She didn't have to state anything. The law says you sign a lease then you are responsible for that lease until the lease expires.

Is she claiming $1000 over and above the security deposit? As I said (and the law provides), she had to return your deposit (whether you asked for it or not) within 30 days. So if she is asking for $1000, you can counter sue her for treble the amount of the deposit.

Of course you broke the lease on purpose. Were you forced to buy your own house? You made a decision to buy your own place, even though you were under contract. If you had planned on this, you would had an early termination clause written into the lease. She didn't have to state anything. The law says you sign a lease then you are responsible for that lease until the lease expires.

Is she claiming $1000 over and above the security deposit? As I said (and the law provides), she had to return your deposit (whether you asked for it or not) within 30 days. So if she is asking for $1000, you can counter sue her for treble the amount of the deposit.

Yes... asking for $ above and beyond the deposit.
My biggest issue at the moment is why it took her over 30 days to provide us with this information.

Yes...asking for $ above and beyond the deposit.
My biggest issue at the moment is why it took her over 30 days to provide us with this information.

And that is an important issue. Because she did not return the deposit or an accounting within 30 days, she forfeited the right to do so and you can sue her for treble damages.

I find it interesting that she claims she consulted an attorney. Here is the actual code section:
South Carolina Code 27-40-410. Security deposits; prepaid rent :: Lawserver (http://www.lawserver.com/law/state/south-carolina/sc-code/south_carolina_code_27-40-410)

So its up to you. Do you want to sue for treble or just forget the whole thing? If you want to forget it, respond to her with the code citation. Tell her, she can keep the deposit if she drops this claim for $1000, otherwise you will file suit for treble damages.

This 'over 30 days' she took sounds a bit iffy. You bought a house sometime in July and presumably paid rent for July. The new tenants have been there 'about' a month, meaning most of August. You can't move out before the end of a month and call that the beginning of the 30 days.
So did you pay for July?
When did you move out?
When was her invoice postmarked?

This 'over 30 days' she took sounds a bit iffy. You bought a house sometime in July and presumably paid rent for July. The new tenants have been there 'about' a month, meaning most of August. You can't move out before the end of a month and call that the beginning of the 30 days.
So did you pay for July?
When did you move out?
When was her invoice postmarked?

We paid for July.
We were out by aug.1 which we discussed with her as the tenants wanted to be in as soon in aug as possible.

She sent the invoice via email.we received it at 940 last night.

Joy makes a point. The timeline here is very close. What are the exact dates?

1) When you gave notice
2) when you vacated and turned over the keys
3) When the new tenants moved?
4) When the invoice was postmarked/received?

Joy makes a point. the timeline here is very close. What are the exact dates?

1) When you gave notice
2) when you vacated and turned over the keys
3) When the new tenants moved?
4) When the invoice was postmarked/received?

Gave notice end of June to vacate by aug.1
Vacated July 31... mailed keys per LL request
New tenants were in by 2nd week 9f aug.
Received invoice last night via email.

Unless you signed a month to month you broke the léase. Unless you are military and got deployed you broke the léase. You can dispute damages and make sure your deposit is itemized how it was 'uses' by LL.

Gave notice end of june to vacate by aug.1
vacated july 31...mailed keys per LL request
new tenants were in by 2nd week 9f aug.
received invoice last night via email.

Interesting, I don't know if an e-mail will satisfy the requirement for written notification. Also, you owe until the new tenants lease was effective. And, since you broke the lease, its possible that the day the new tenants moved in will be looked at as the start of the 30 days. Which could make her in compliance. Maybe she sent the e-mail and also mailed a copy that you haven't received.

This is very close to call here. A court could rule either way. But, if she did also mail a copy, I'm leaning towards it going her way.

The day the tenant returns the keys to the landlord is the day when the 30 days begins running for return of the deposit.

The day the tenant returns the keys to the landlord is the day when the 30 days begins running for return of the deposit.
She made me mail her the keys so how do I really know when she received them?
I didn't do a return receipt or anything. At the time everything including us moving out had been very cordial and friendly.

Depending on how far away you were from her when you mailed them you can assume she received them within 3 business days, which would have been August 5th. So receiving the email from her on September 5 was within the time.

Whether a court would accept an email to you as official written notice of the use of your security deposit is questionable. I wouldn't count on that for getting you out of this.

You would have owed her 9 days of rent plus the cost of any repairs. Carefully look at the list of damages she claims to have repaired and see if your total security deposit + $1,000 seems like a reasonable amount for these things. If not, ignore the email, let her sue you and then defend yourself in court. If she does sue you, you can always file a counterclaim that she failed to return the accounting of your deposit within the proper time.

She made me mail her the keys so how do I really know when she received them?
I didn't do a return receipt or anything. At the time everything including us moving out had been very cordial and friendly.

Cordial and friendly doesn't replace written agreements. I've found that people are cordial and friendly until they can stick it to you.

But that's neither here nor there. If this comes to court then you state that you mailed the keys the same day you vacated.

So you still have a decision to make here. Whether you want to fight it in court or not.

I see Lisa is thinking the same as I was about the e-mail qualifying as notice and about whether you can get out of it on that. My guess here is she consulted an attorney who told her she needed to send something that day or risk running afoul of the 30 day rule.