What Are My Options for Seeking a New Apartment?

Hi,

Sorry to hear of your loss. I used to be a Property Manager for many years and am familiar with the Texas Lease. There are NO death clauses...not even your own (your estate would inherit the remaining lease charges). The only 2 ways to legally get out of a lease (if the manager will not voluntarily let you out) are military orders to transfer or you are buying a house (and that one was just recently added). You CAN try to go over her head to the corporate offices, but you will probably not have much success. The only options I can suggest other than that is to accept the offer of a smaller apt or break your lease, which is not advisable as you'd be responsible for the remaining lease terms, reletting fees and rent until they re-lease the unit. People have tried for years to get the laws changed for death of a spouse or divorce, but so far nothing. You can also contact Houston Apartment Association, which is like "God" to the apt industry (they're scared to death of them!) and ask their opinion. There is also the Texas Apartment Association which is over the entire state of Texas. Good luck!

After reading other responses, I wanted to make another note here....Texas is a community property state and husband and wife are equally responsible for all debts, loans, contracts, etc. Death does NOT negate that. Whether or not you were named as a lease-holder or not, you ARE if you were legally or common-law married. If he had the apartment before you got married and you were simply an occupant, none of this applies to you, you are free to go.

Skipping out was also preferred when I was a manager, because it kept us from having to pay fees to file eviction, take time off to go to court, etc. IF they went to court to evict you, then they'd still have to pay to have the judgment put into effect and that MAY or MAY NOT go on your credit. Depends on the management company if they go so far as to file for the judgment. Lots done't. It WILL go on your "rental" record though as your next place will verify your rental history. Lots of people will run out and rent another place, THEN skip out, so there is no verification of your current place. I'm not advising you to be dishonest or sneaky, just letting you know how things work in the business. Going to the Corporate offices is probably you're best bet if you want to leave the property.

2 moms found this helpful

So sorry for your loss!

I have a friend who is going through a broken lease issue. Let me jut clarify a few things. First she was able to get a new apartment as long as her previous broken lease was paid off. Meaning any additional fees had been paid and were not in collections. Her new apartment required more of a deposit but she was able to find a new apartment without too much of a problem.

You may want to ask the apartment manager what the penalty is for a broken lease. I would definitely go over the apartment managers head because they do have the ability to work out a deal with you, and I can't understand why they wouldn't given you situation. I also definitely recommend going to the apartment association and any other resources you can find.

I really hope it works out for you! Good luck!

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Hi,

I'm sorry about your loss. If this is any help, my husband and I went through this in Austin six years ago. I researched Texas law at the time because we'd found the home we wanted to buy (our current home) and so needed to leave the home we were renting before the lease was up. Texas law requires that the tenant make a good faith effort to find someone to move in. So, we placed ads in the Austin American-Statesman and brought the homeowner (who lived out of state and had turned over the day-to-day issues to a property management outfit), two potential tenants, both very solid, that she never moved on. We were persistent, though, and made it clear to the property management company that we understood the law. I found that they were really the problem. Ultimately, I tracked down the owner through property records (they are public record) and called her and explained the situation. We negotiated a release from the lease. She accepted new tenants, also brought to as a result of the ads we placed, and we paid her, I think, an additional month or two. My advice is to make sure you do your research and be persistent, especially in your situation, and especially if a middle man, such as a property management company, is involved.

Good luck,
J.

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I was an apartment manager over 10 yrs ago and I can't believe that your management team is being so heartless. I'm really sorry for that. I would suggest that you call the management company and ask for your manager's supervisor. If you don't get anywhere with him/her you can call the Houston Apartment Association and see if they can help you. Good luck.

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I am so sorry. My son died in March and my husband has cancer and is starting chemo...I also have 4 living children and am pregnant. It would be an absolute nightmare to loose my husband too.

Prayers for you and your family,
S.

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Sorry to here about your husband.
if you break your lease it will be on your credit report and thats not such a good thing in the long run.Maybe you should take the offer of a smaller apartment if thats what your needing to help you w/your finances. Or possibly getting a roommate till your lease is up.

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S., I'm so sorry about your husband :(. God bless you and your family.

As for the apartment, I'm not sure how things work in the event of a death. Could you talk to the manager and see if they'd let you out of the lease...given the circumstances? They can. If not, maybe you could talk to the mgmt company of the complex. If that doesnt work, maybe you could pay the reletting fee to get out of the lease early.

Good luck, and again, I'm so sorry about your loss.

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If both your names are on the lease then you're bound by the lease unless you have a great landlord that'll help you out of the lease but most don't if both your names are on the lease. Now, if your name isn't on the lease then you should be able to get out of it. You only have 7 mos left if you want to think of it that way. At least the landlord was willing to move you to a less expensive apt. Most won't even do that. After the lease, you can ck into other places to live. If you don't mind living in Brookshire, our former landlady is GREAT! She only has month to month lease which means if you can't stay, no problem, just give 30 day notice. Course you can move out sooner if needed but she requires 30 day notice. I'll personal message you w/her info. Good luck!

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Does the lease contain a re-letting clause with a stated re-letting fee? Depending on whether this is a TAA lease with standard language or an individual lease with specific wording to the contrary - my understanding is the re-letting fee can be paid and you can move regardless of the reason why. It depends on whether you could afford that, which typically is about 85% of one months' rent.

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My condolences to you and your family...

Have you read over the lease to see if there is any type of death clause in it? Go to the next in compand...get the name and address of the management company/owner of the complex and send them a certified letter w/death certificate stating your reason for needing to get out of the lease.
How to break a lease will depend a lot on the actual wording of the contract. Chances are the ways to break the agreement are very well spelled out along with the detailed process of terminating the lease. In most cases, a lease can be broken with a set amount of advanced notice. Payments might be required for a certain period of time or until a new tenant is found. It is also possible a penalty will apply. Don’t be surprised if the fine print says you have to pay out the full lease amount. Although this is not generally the case, it can happen. Some complex, however, do have hardship clauses to help those who have faced a big loss, such as a death or loss of income.

Where there's a will, there's a way!

May God's blessings and favor be upon you...

I am a Realtor and I don't think that there is a clause that will let you out. However, out of good faith, they should let you out. You should contact the Texas Apartment Association and make a complaint if they don't let you out.

If this is what they are offering you then take it, there are no death clauses, unless you are the person on that lease, now if he was the only one on the lease and I am assuming not because now you have to put anybody and everybody on the lease that lives there you should just take the offer and ride out the rest of the lease agreement.
So for your lose, may God be with you.

Call your local news station they can probably put you in contact with someone that can help you and also have a good story . I'm sure the apartment complex would be willing to help if they new they could become a news story. Maybe we can start something , and get everyone to e-mail the management. I'm so sorry for the loss you family is dealing with.

Hi S.,

I am very sorry for your loss. My husband works in the apartment industry, and he says that the property manager is probably right about the legalities, and that if you are being offered a more affordable apartment without a transfer fee that's not a bad deal. I pointed out that you wouldn't be asking if you could afford a smaller apartment in the same complex. He says that you have the following possibilities that you could explore:

1. Is your name on the lease? If only your husband signed, the lease stopped being binding when he died.

2. If this is a question of financial survival, if you "skip" and just move out, the apartment owner will bill the balance of the lease to you and it will go on your credit rating (and now that I think of it, also on your profile for future rentals), but you would be effectively out of the situation. I should say that my husband seems to prefer it when tenants skip than when they stay for months not paying and putting up obstacles to eviction, so this may reflect his bias.

3. He will also ask his own manager if there is any special death clause that he is unaware of. if I learn of anything that might help, I'll write again.

Best wishes -- personally I'm surprised at how unaccommodating the manager is being; I can see wanting to see documentation, but don't see what the point is of keeping someone in a lease at a rate they can no longer manage. I hope that contacting folks higher up the chain of command will yield better results.

God bless you.
M.

Having worked at a property before, they are right unfortunly. Unless you pay a re-letting fee to break your lease but that goes on your rental history as a red flag. Get a copy of your lease and read through it. It is up top the management and or the company to overrule and let you out for good. I am sorry for your loss and wish you all the best in the apt.

S.,
I'm sure you have had many changes lately. My condolences on the loss of your husband. Regarding your question...
There may not be an option to terminate the lease based on the Lease Contract, but I would request the name of the Property Supervisor or owner and send them a written request. They may possibly allow you to move out early without penalty, or transfer you to another unit without fees. Sometimes it can be touchy for a property owner because they have to consider what terms they have required in the past from others...so they do not operate with any partiality or set a precedent with your situation. There are laws that govern rental practices that require equality for all residents...etc. Anyway, it never hurts to inquire...
I was in Multi-Family Housing (Property Management) for many years. Blessings, D.

I am sorry about the death of your husband.

They are right and the difficult thing is that if you break it and leave on bad terms they will turn you in to the credit bureau and it will show up on your credit report and if in the furthre you wish to buy a house you will havae to take care of that lien first before you can continue the paper process.

I--too being widowed know we do not always have many options.

God bless you

S.,

I am so sorry for your loss. I am a Realtor and owner of several rental properties. I always try to do what is fair for all in situations like your's. We recently had a similar situation. Our tenant wrote me (e-mailed) that her health had deteriorated so she couldn't work and that it was necessary to move back home with here parents with her two children. I let her know that if she would leave it clean and ready to rent that we would try to find a replacement for her. As long as there was no loss to us, we would be willing to release her. We had actually rented it to her for $100/mo. less than the previous tenant. We were able to find a new tenant, but it took a month. Therefore, we used her deposit as that month's rent and leased it for $100 more per month. We were actually out a little, changing locks, having carpet cleaned, etc. But, we were blessed with a tenant who was actually better qualified than she was.

In your case, you both signed the lease. What the management company should be willing to be fair by allowing you out of the lease if they have a replacement tenant. I like the suggestion that you put an add in the local paper and find a replacement tenant for them to approve and take over your lease. I don't recommend going to court against them because I have found that large management companies are very "friendly" with the judge and you will probably lose. However, if you truly can't afford it, you should move as soon as possible. Leave it as clean as you found it. Have a witness and take pictures. They will have a better chance of replacing you sooner if it is ready to move in to. However, if they have several vacancies, they will lease the other ones first because they alresdy have you on the hook. If you have a potential replacement tenant, you can control that part of it. The replacement tenant must be equivalent to you and your husband's qualifications at the beginning of the lease as in income and credit. It might help to show them proof that your income is not sufficient to handle the rent after your Husband's death, if that is the truth. It is true that the actual manager of the complex may not have the authority to release you from your agreement, so it would be better to communicate with their supervisor or owner. As others have said, in either case, it is better not to stay if you can't pay the rent.

My Daughter was in an apartment (in Kerrville) that flooded 3 times. Her fiance' had been there 3-1/2 years. They had just signed a 6-month renewal. After the 3rd flood, I found them a cute mobile home to buy. The apartment was unlivable for 21 days. The complex sued them for NEW replacement of the carpet and the remainder of the lease, and won. I was there and couldn't believe that a judge wouldn't listen to the fact that the carpet was used for 3-1/2 years, flooded 3 times, etc. I explained that the normal life expectancy of rental carpet was about 7 years. They lived on it for 3-1/2 years, equaling half of the life and flooding 3 times was the other half. It didn't matter. She (the judge) gave them a judgement for 100% cost to replace it and the remainder (5 months) of the rent. I could tell that the judge was "in the management company's pocket". That is the only explanation for why she didn't listen to reason. They didn't actually file the judgement, though and it didn't affect my daughter's credit.

Bless you. Pray for favor in your dealings with the management company before you pursue it. If your lease has the "Reletting Fee" verbage in it, most TAA forms call for 85% of a month's rent to be paid as a reletting charge. This amount is in addition to the security deposit. If you leave the unit clean and ready to rent, they should settle for just your security deposit if it covers any lost rent until they re-rent your unit. Whatever you do, make sure you have it in writing so you can document your effort to be responsible. If you do your best to be fair, that is all you can do. Even if it doesn't work out, you have the right to put up to 100 words on your credit report explaining your side. Any reasonable person would not hold it against you for having to break a lease because your husband passed away.

Contact the Texas Apartment Association, http://www.taa.org/
They'll give you all the facts you're looking for. I'm so sorry for your loss. It's a sad day when people don't go beyond the line of duty for others in situations like you have. I'm so sorry. God Bless!

S.,
I don't know of anything to help you, but I wanted to send my deepest condolences to you and hope that you are doing well. God bless you.

when i got divorced i left our appartment in houston. to break the lease i had to pay 2,000.00. i belive he also owed the same amount. i payed it little by little as they worked out a plan with me. At first it was as little as five or ten dollars a month untill i could afford 100.00. my record is clean and i have no problem at all renting. i had to give them as a ref once and the new renter said they had nothing but good things to say about us! when i left i took all of "my" stuff and left him with alot...he left all the food in fridge,trashbags,acouch. it was a disaster.

another situation i moved in with my now husband and his room mate took my old appartment which did not cause me to break the lease. of course i told the appartment what was going on and they were happy i found some one. its really not that difficult to find somone that needs an appartment. sorry for your loss. if anything i would move to the smaller appartment. at least for the next six months.

We broke lease once and had to pay a reletting fee, which was basically one month's rent. We would have been responsible for any subsequent rent had the apt sat empty but the manager told us that usually apts in that complex went quickly. There was someone lined up to take it before we moved. So talk that over with the manager as well. Maybe they would be willing to work with you and try to push your apt to prospective rentees, especially in this situation. I am truly sorry for your loss and hope you get it all sorted out soon. Take care:)

I am so sorry for the lost of myour husband. We need just a little more information. Like where are you plan on moving to ie another apartment or back home with parents etc. My heart go out to you.

Any good Realtor should be able to answer your questions after reading over your lease, especially if its a standard State of TX lease form. Good luck to you!!