My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Texas
I live in an apartment complex in Texas. I am 42, my wife is 39, we are both on the lease. We have never been late on rent or house payments in our entire life. It follows that we are not currently late or behind on rent.
I am trying to break my lease because I have become unemployed as of today. I notified the apartment complex two weeks ago, when I first became aware of my layoff, and told them that I would be laid off today (July 24th) and that because I do not have the money I need to stay in the apartment, I would be moving, out of state (better job opportunities), to look for work, and to live in a place that I can afford. I told them that I would be moving out mid August and would be willing to pay them for the prorated month of August and for any damages (the time that the unit was not rented out) and for reletting fees, etc. I did make it clear that I could not immediately pay for any of these things other than the prorated rent because of my unexpected financial situation. I asked them if they would be willing to negotiate with me on these terms considering I was always a good tenant. They gave me the following three options.
1) You put in a 60 day notice, pay rent those 60 days, and pay a two month lease break fee within 7 days of providing your notice to vacate.
2) Pay an 85% reletting fee plus you'll be on the hook until your lease ends for rent each month or until the home leases. (This can take days or months and is a risky route)
3) Lastly, finding someone to take over your lease. I suggest you look on Craigslist and Facebook for prospects. They must pass our screening and financially qualify. We can add them on as your new "roommates" then turn around on-the-spot and sign you off. Keep in mind they'll need to earn 3x monthly rent and you'll be signing over all deposits to the new roommates when you sign yourself off the lease.
Option 1 does not work at all as we must leave mid August. Option 2 we can't afford. Option 3 we are trying, but still have not found anyone with only a week left before August 1st, which is when rent is do, and they stated that they will not accept a prorated payment, only a full one, and if we fail to pay full, they will start the eviction process.
Since time is running out on option 3, we have been reading over the lease and discovered that a) we have a year left on our lease and b) if we break the lease the rent is accelerated and we owe the entire lease plus reletting fees (about $15,000 or a years worth of rent plus the reletting fee). We obviously can't afford this while being unemployed and paying rent in a different place. We have a bit of money saved, a severance package and unemployment to float us in the new place for 6-7 months.
My question is (and obviously I don't want it to come to this) if we are evicted and a judgement filed against us, how long does it generally take to begin collections on the judgement and can the money we are using to float us in this time of need be taken from our bank accounts to satisfy the judgement? Basically, should we expect to have all of our money drained from our bank account 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, X months after we move? After 6-7 months the money will be used up and if no job is found by then, chapter 7 bankruptcy.
I live in an apartment complex in Texas. I am 42, my wife is 39, we are both on the lease. We have never been late on rent or house payments in our entire life. It follows that we are not currently late or behind on rent.
I am trying to break my lease because I have become unemployed as of today. I notified the apartment complex two weeks ago, when I first became aware of my layoff, and told them that I would be laid off today (July 24th) and that because I do not have the money I need to stay in the apartment, I would be moving, out of state (better job opportunities), to look for work, and to live in a place that I can afford. I told them that I would be moving out mid August and would be willing to pay them for the prorated month of August and for any damages (the time that the unit was not rented out) and for reletting fees, etc. I did make it clear that I could not immediately pay for any of these things other than the prorated rent because of my unexpected financial situation. I asked them if they would be willing to negotiate with me on these terms considering I was always a good tenant. They gave me the following three options.
1) You put in a 60 day notice, pay rent those 60 days, and pay a two month lease break fee within 7 days of providing your notice to vacate.
2) Pay an 85% reletting fee plus you'll be on the hook until your lease ends for rent each month or until the home leases. (This can take days or months and is a risky route)
3) Lastly, finding someone to take over your lease. I suggest you look on Craigslist and Facebook for prospects. They must pass our screening and financially qualify. We can add them on as your new "roommates" then turn around on-the-spot and sign you off. Keep in mind they'll need to earn 3x monthly rent and you'll be signing over all deposits to the new roommates when you sign yourself off the lease.
Option 1 does not work at all as we must leave mid August. Option 2 we can't afford. Option 3 we are trying, but still have not found anyone with only a week left before August 1st, which is when rent is do, and they stated that they will not accept a prorated payment, only a full one, and if we fail to pay full, they will start the eviction process.
Since time is running out on option 3, we have been reading over the lease and discovered that a) we have a year left on our lease and b) if we break the lease the rent is accelerated and we owe the entire lease plus reletting fees (about $15,000 or a years worth of rent plus the reletting fee). We obviously can't afford this while being unemployed and paying rent in a different place. We have a bit of money saved, a severance package and unemployment to float us in the new place for 6-7 months.
My question is (and obviously I don't want it to come to this) if we are evicted and a judgement filed against us, how long does it generally take to begin collections on the judgement and can the money we are using to float us in this time of need be taken from our bank accounts to satisfy the judgement? Basically, should we expect to have all of our money drained from our bank account 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, X months after we move? After 6-7 months the money will be used up and if no job is found by then, chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Breaking a Lease: Judgement
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