I gave my Landlord a verbal 30 day notice, due to death in the family and husbands stress on his Heart, which he has defibulater, we could no longer pay the lease payment. He said he was OK with it. We still had 5 months left on the Lease, he was glad to see his home was in better shape then when we had moved in. We moved out two days early then what we said, the next day after moving out, he had new renters move in. He kept our Security Deposit for early termanation of the Lease. Can he do this? In the move I lost our Lease Papers, which he said he would not hold to them when we sign them, it was he had to do it by law. He told us he trusted us. Wow. I lost 1500 hundred dollars.
My rent was always paid on time, The house, I put work into it, I even oiled the cabnets and had the carpets cleaned by huge carpet company. I went through the house with clean rag and dusted and cleaned each base board, and railing. We treated the house with kit gloves so we could get our Deposit back. He can do this? Wow.

Legally he can keep it, since you have nothing in writing that your request to break the written lease was accepted. He could even sue for the remainder. It is assumed that there are costs associated with new tenants - advertising, showing, paying a commission, having to take a lower rent, doing background checks, etc.
He never said he'd give back the deposit.
It might be worth Small Claims court though, depending on the judge and how you act in court. Technicalities get 'bent' all the time. $1500 is a lot to keep.

By law you are required to give written notice. By law you are required to fulfill the terms of your lease. By law he has to return the deposit within 21 days or a written accounting of how it was used.

Generally a early termination penalty is 2-3 months rent. So you may have gotten off lightly here.

Once I figure out what you are saying I may have an answer " In the move I lost our Lease Papers, which he said he would not hold to them when we sign them, it was he had to do it by law"

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by arliecart

He can do this? Wow.

---

Hello a:

No, he can't - especially since he rented it right away. He CANNOT double dip. In terms of your notice, what he SAID, or what you SAID doesn't matter... What matters to the court is the fact that he RENTED the house RIGHT AWAY. At worst, you'll be required to pay TWO days rent... Sue him in small claims court.

excon

The only way that the landlord would be entitled to retain any of the deposit in this situation is if the lease specifically stated that the landlord would retain the deposit in the event the tenant broke the lease. If the lease does not specifically say this then the landlord is required to mitigate their damages by finding another tenant and is entitled to retain only the amount of lost rent. As usual, excon is right. (Sorry, Ex. Had to spread it.) File a lawsuit in small claims court.