[marctrace]

HI and thank you for your concern:

I am a personal banker at a global bank in New Jersey. I was transferred against my will. It was either be transferred or as the bank calls it get "served a severance package". As we all know this means take the transfer or leave the company! I am in a apartment lease for 1 yr. PERIOD but have only occupied it for 5 months, my company transferred me to Florida!! I have to break my lease and can't afford to pay monies up front to break lease {$5000}. IS THERE SOME TYPE OF STATE OR FEDERAL LAW THAT STIPULATES I AM ALLOWED TO BREAK A LEASE DUE TO EMPLOYMENT TRANSFER, I mean there has to be, I was unwilling transferred and this community I live in wants 5k upfront. Look at the economy we're in, especially finances! They should let me out.

Now I have to find a law to get out... HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPP

[donf]

I've been where you are. All the leases that I have had allow you to break the lease if you are being transferred by your company.

In one case, transferred to Texas, IBM had to pay off the lease because it was their decision to move me.

As to Florida, especially South Florida, you won't really feel like you've moved.

When we got there in '84 we discovered that apart from the great weather, it was just like a suburb of New York City.

Relax, you are about to be thrown into the "Briar Patch."

[Fr_Chuck]

There is no law to help you out. If your company is not willing to help cover these loses, you will be responsible for the lease until thy lease it to someone else or the end of the lease

So you are stuck in your lease, unless there is some term in the lease that will let you out of it

[donf]

Fr. Chuck,

The answer to this question lies in the lease. Mark, you really need to check your lease termination section. I believe that like the IRS, a move >50 mi. to keep your job is reason enough to terminate your lease.

Also, if your company is forcing you to relocate, then they are the villain and should be held liable for fees incurred by the employee to make a move.

The only way around that, at least as far as I know is if you are requesting the move, not the bank.

If the bank is paying your Moving and Living expenses, then any idiot would understand that the costs incurred by you to break the lease is part of the Moving and Living expenses.

Question: Has the bank extorted your compliance on this move? I think so. Also, are they saying that to keep your employment you have to agree to cover all expenses of the move?

Please see a lawyer, after you have studied your leases and talked to the landlord. New York and New Jersey are pretty strict with what a landlord can and cannot do.

I hit that wall when I was moved from New Rochelle, NY to Virginia Beach in '72.

[froggy7]

It appears that his lease does have a buy-out clause... 5K. He just doesn't want to PAY that 5K to get out of the lease.

And, technically, his company is not "forcing" him to move. The company has, probably, said that it is closing department X, and offered those employees the chance to remain with the company by moving to department Y. The company is probably thinking that the offer is more than fair, since they could have just laid the OP off, instead. And the company doesn't HAVE to pay moving expenses. Things like that are all negotiable.

So, if the company hasn't offered to cover moving expenses, Chuck is right. The OP can pay to break the lease, as it states in the contract. There's no law that will get him out of the lease without paying.

[ScottGem]

First, Chuck is right, there is no law to help you. Most states have laws that cover military personnel being redeployed, but that doesn't extend to civilian job transfers.

Second, Don is also correct, many leases do have a provision to allow the tenant out of the lease in case of a job transfer. Many will include a buyout clause that allows you to pay a certain amount to escape from the lease. Is that what the $5K is?

Third, a NJ landlord needs to make a reasonable effort to rent the apartment and cannot double dip, so your obligation ends when the unit is rented to another party.

Fourth, Many companies doing transfers offer relocation assistance that might cover the buyout, have you talked to your company about that?

Fifth, anything yoyu have to pay to get out of the lease may be considered moving expenses and therefore be deductible on your next tax return.

So your options are:
1) negotiate a buyout with your landlord
2) sublet the unit (check if the lease allows that)
3) find someone to be a successor tenant
4) move out and let the landlord sue you for the time the unit remains vacant
5) get your company to help pay the buy out
6) take a tax deduction for the moving expenses

You may be able to use more than one of those options.