Hi,

My roommate made a verbal agreement with our land lord that her and I would sign a new lease renewing our apartment for another year. She gave us the lease and we signed it however it is still in our possession and not the land lord's. We decided that we don't actually want to renew the lease due to recent job placement issues. We mentioned this to our land lord and she said that if she could find someone to take our apartment for May 1st then everything will be fine, however, if she can't then she says that she is going to take our damage deposit because we had the verbal agreement with her that we were going to renew.
Can we shred up the lease with no repercussions? Or Are we legally bounded by the verbal agreement that was made?

Thanks for the help in advance!

Hello stumpy:

In real estate matters, without a written contract, there is NO contract.

I understand that she's going to do what she's going to do. When you sue her for your deposit, she won't have anything to show the judge as to why she kept it.

Depart as you normally would. Make the place broom clean, and arrange for a walkthrough with the landlord. Do it in writing. Take pictures.

You'll be fine.

excon

Verbal agreements can be binding if they can be proven.

The fact that the landlord gave you a new lease to sign, would be proof.

Also, what did the old lease say about how much notice is necessary for cancellation. If that amount is 60 days, then you are liable for May.

Verbal agreements for renting property for one year or more are not legally enforceable. She can't hold you to a full year. If your original lease provided that you had to give 30 or 60 days notice that you did not intend to renew then she will be entitled to rent for those 30 or 60 days.

Agreed, I would try and be very nice about it though. If you only had to give 30 days notice as per the original lease then you don't have to pay May's rent.

If you had to give 60 days then yes you have to pay May's rent but you should in both cases get you deposit back.

Just let the landlord know in a nice way that a verbal agreement is not valid for a 1 year lease (but maybe check with the housing authority in your state first) and your sorry but you are giving her your notice now that you will move our May 1st. To protect yourself a bit more send a registered letter today giving her your move out date.

If it ends up in court that will help you.

I'm going to jump back in here. The way I read this, the verbal agreement is not really an issue.

OP agreed to re-up and the landlord prepared and submitted a renewal lease. OP then decided not to renew. So landlord said as long as the unit is rented by May 1 you are clear. Otherwise you are responsible for May.

So, the way I see it, OP's lease probably has a 60 day notice of cancellation. Since the OP notified the landlord in mid March that they changed their mind, then the landlord is within their rights and the verbal agreement has no bearing.

Hey everyone,

Thank you for your input!