Hello,
I’m an incoming freshman at the University of Florida for Fall 2015. I failed to apply for on-campus housing until April, as I had little intention of attending UF, initially. So because my application was so late, my mother and I wanted to secure housing somewhere and signed a contract with a nearby housing company, just in case. Of course, now we are locked into two contracts for the upcoming school year. Off campus housing is cheaper, and their contract leaves no room for release. UF however has an appeals process for contract cancellations, but our first appeal was denied. Only one opportunity remains. As my parents are divorcing and my father is no longer contributing to the household, we used this as grounds for the Appeal- increased financial need for a cheaper option. Now we must provide additional documentation to strengthen our re-appeal case. Can anyone provide some suggestions or help regarding this issue? I am worried that I will not be able to go to college this year. Please respond. Feel free to ask additional questions if more info is needed to help me. Thank you so much for your time.
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Can you pay a fee to get out of the apartment?
^ agree with aunt bea. My niece, (not at UF, but at her large state flagship) paid a fee to get out of her contract.
There must be students who would like to get on campus housing. Advertise both options to get one rented.
*Check the contract for any break fees. Housing contracts usually allow you to pay a month’s rent (or so) to get out of them. Also check the terms to see whether you’re obligated to stay the term or if you only have to give notice and how far in advance. If so, give notice now. Barring that, check for a clause about subletting/assignment. If either of those is permissible, do that. If they won’t let you do any of the above, just tell the landlord you won’t be showing up. What are they going to do, sue you? They’re legally obligated to look for other renters anyways.
*Note: this is not legal advice and I am not your lawyer. If you want real legal advice you should find a lawyer who can examine your document. This is me just talking off the top of my head. On that note, UF may have a small group of lawyers that help students out in these kinds of situations. You should check.
Not sure anyone can beat the advice you just got from @Demosthenes49
“If they won’t let you do any of the above, just tell the landlord you won’t be showing up. What are they going to do, sue you? They’re legally obligated to look for other renters anyways.”
Well… yeah they could sue. I own a rental property and if someone signed a lease and didn’t show up, they are legally obligated to pay rent until I find a new tenant. At the very least I would file an incident with the credit reporting bureaus and if the amount in arrears ran into the thousands then yes, I would sue.
That said, I would try to get out of the off-campus lease first. As stated above you’ll be on the hook for rent until they find a new tenant, but that will probably happen pretty quickly in a college area. I also suspect the off-campus property owner will be more flexible and easier to work with than a university housing office.
The university housing division doesn’t need to sue you, they can just add it to your bill and then hold your transcripts hostage.
There shouldn’t be a problem to find someone to take one of the rooms. Is the off campus apt. a single, a room in an apartment, run by/in conjunction with the school (i.e., does one need to be a student?)? Many of the schools place students in these off campus apt and they really are only renting their room. I know at FSU the students can be from FSU or the community college or FAMU.
You need to go talk to someone at the school. Usually housing is so in demand they don’t hold you to it.
I agree with anomander; I am also a landlord and would do the same (and would sue in small claims court if the amount was small). Don’t just not show up; be proactive and line up a replacement occupant for the housing if necessary.
Surely you have a lawyer friend who will take a quick look at the contract and tell you how to get out of it (or how to minimize the damage incurred in not performing).
College-area apt contracts can be brutal. In areas where there are always vacancies, they will rent everything in the complex first, before renting out YOUR unit that needs re-renting. That can mean being held for the full-year’s rent.
Colleges are usually more lenient so really press for that route.
@anomander: Sure, they could sue. But you’re not looking at the risk the right way. As it stands, paying for two apartments will render OP unable to attend college. That’s bad. Assuming all else fails and he gives the landlord notice, there are three possible scenarios: 1. The landlord finds someone and he’s off the hook; 2. The landlord looks and doesn’t find anyone in which case he’s liable; 3. The landlord doesn’t look, in which case he’s maybe liable for the difference between market value and contract value. The worst case scenario is #2, but that’s where he already is. Everything else is better, admittedly with a bit more hassle involved (fighting it out in small claims), but he should still get to go to college.
@learningiskey: I forgot to ask, how old are you? How old were you when you signed? Did anyone else sign on as a guarantor?
Note: still not anyone here’s lawyer.
In Mississippi landlords do not hesitate to sue in justice court, a/k/a small claims court, and will go to circuit court if they need to.
It is harder for them to sue if you are from out of state. When I was in school half-a-dozen of us rented a large house, with all of us on the lease. Summer came and everyone bailed out. Two of us were from in state, so we’re the ones who got sued.
With that said, they will re-rent the apartment and you may only be out a month’s rent or maybe just your security deposit. Best thing to do is ask, beg, wheedle, and plead.
Many years ago, I was in a similar situation. I signed a lease in an apartment building a little two quickly, and was not going to live there. I just spoke to the building manager and told them I was not going to be living there after all, and that I was going to walk away and had no desire to recover the deposit and first month’s rent. They felt that was fair and we terminated the lease.
My point is that any lease is just a contract, and any contract can be modified by mutual consent. IANAL