[shortie1130]

Hi! My fiancé and I have been renting an apartment for 4 years, and are currently in the process of buying our first home. The whole process has moved much faster than we thought it would, and as a result, we're going to be left with a lot of time still left on our lease that we'll presumably need to "buy out".

A friend of mine bought a house a few years ago and told me yesterday that his landlord said first time home buyers were allowed out of the lease without penalty; however, he wasn't sure if it was a legal thing or if his landlord was just being nice.

As soon as he said that, it got me thinking as to whether there is such a regulation/guideline/provision/etc currently in place for first time home buyers in this situation? Or is really up to the individual apartment complexes how they want to handle it? I automatically assumed we'd have to terminate the contract as it specifies, but thought perhaps there really was some kind of legal clause we could bring to their attention. (Doesn't hurt to hope, right?)

I really tried my best to find an answer online (which is how I found this site), but there's just SO much information, I keep finding answers in regards to other states, some of the information is outdated, and I'm just plain not sure! I've also asked my real estate agent, and he doesn't think there is but really couldn't say for sure.

Hope you can give me answer one way or the other before I lose my mind searching!

Here are some specifics:
~We live in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and are staying with the county.
~We're both 26 years old and have never owned a home before.
~We started renting this apartment in 2009.
~We just re-signed for the 4th time right before starting our house-hunting (since we had no idea how long it would take)
~Current lease isn't up until May 31st.
~Lease specifies that, when terminating, you pay 4 months worth of rent if you're in the first 6 months of the lease, or 3 months worth if you're in the last 6 months -- It doesn't clarify any kind of exceptions to this rule though. It also doesn't say one way or the other whether we'll get our security deposit back (are they allowed to keep it? We didn't damage any aspect of the apartment).

Thanks for your help!

[smoothy]

Your friend is blowing smoke... a contract is a contract and the Landlord shouldn't be stuck on the short end every time someone decides to buy a house.

With that said... legally what applies is what is written in your lease.

Personally, I would get the ball rolling ASAP by talking to the building manager. If you can get out with 4 months rent... and be released in writing, consider yourself lucky. Usually you can be held liable for the entire term of the lease... as long as they have been trying but unable to find a new tenant. And in a bad market that is possible in certain areas.

[Fr_Chuck]

No such law, your friend may have just been lucky and had a nice landlord.
If you have lived there a long time, if they life you, normally a private owned rental, not one operated by management company.

But they do not have to let you out

You can always ask

[shortie1130]

Oh OK, I kind of had a feeling that he might have just been lucky. But like I said, it never hurts to ask! You never know what kinds of laws are out there sometimes.

We live in a huge corporate-owned complex and they frankly don't like anyone at all. We absolutely hate living here (hence why we're looking for a house) so I doubt we'll be so lucky.

Thanks for getting back to me so fast though! I appreciate it!

[ballengerb1]

You will get your security back unless you damaged the building. They will hold you to paying 4 months rent since you agreed to that when you renewed. You should see if subletting is allowed, this could save you some money if you could get someone else in there

[ScottGem]

After some brief research only military being transferred can break a PA lease without penalty. However PA lease are unusual in that they generally hae early termination clauses. Your lease has higher penalties than normal, though.

[ballengerb1]

You can also explore via your agent if the seller is willing to set a closing date further down the calendar.