Ask Me Help Desk - Landlord Breach of Lease

I live in NYS and signed a lease on 2/29/08 to rent an apartment on 4/18. The landlord called me on 4/1 to tell me that the apartment that I rented was not available anymore and they will not have another apartment available until 5/15 (4 full weeks after I was originally supposed to move). Under the assumption that I was moving from my current apartment I gave my current landlord notice that I was not renewing my lease. So now I basically have nowhere to live for 3 weeks while I am waiting for the new apartment to become available. The landlord offered me another apartment to store my things for a month until the apartment is ready but that means I have to move all of my things twice because of an error they made. Both the landlord and I signed and dated the lease so is that a legally binding contract? The landlord made it seem to me that they are doing me a favor by letting me store my things for no cost and that they were just "being nice" because I was inconvienced. I feel that they breached our contract and they should do whatever it takes to keep me happy. Would this hold up in court should it have to go this far?

Quote:

Originally Posted by en82

I live in NYS and signed a lease on 2/29/08 to rent an apartment on 4/18. The landlord called me on 4/1 to tell me that the apartment that I rented was not available anymore and they will not have another apartment available until 5/15 (4 full weeks after I was originally supposed to move). Under the assumption that I was moving from my current apartment I gave my current landlord notice that I was not renewing my lease. So now I basically have nowhere to live for 3 weeks while I am waiting for the new apartment to become available. The landlord offered me another apartment to store my things for a month until the apartment is ready but that means I have to move all of my things twice because of an error they made. Both the landlord and I signed and dated the lease so is that a legally binding contract? The landlord made it seem to me that they are doing me a favor by letting me store my things for no cost and that they were just "being nice" because I was inconvienced. I feel that they breached our contract and they should do whatever it takes to keep me happy. Would this hold up in court should it have to go this far?

You have a legally binding contract and the landlord has defaulted. Yes, it's a court case. The question will be your reasonable damages. They don't have to do whatever it takes to make you happy but they do have to be reasonable. I don't think it's unreasonable for you to have to stay in a hotel, for that matter, but you never know what a Judge will decide until you're standing in front of one.

You would have to move once - from the old place to the new place - so I wouldn't expect them to pay for that but I WOULD expect them to pay from the temporary place to the new place. Wonder why you can't move into the storage apartment WITH your things and then move to the new place - ?

I wouldn't be so sure I still wanted to move into this place - sounds somewhat unethical and like they are flying by the seat of their pants.

I agree with JudyKayTee, the only issue there being that bringing to court may take longer than the 3 weeks you're out an apartment. Either way, I'd set up a consultation with a lawyer, and think twice about where you're moving in.