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June 2012 Moms
Please help! Need valid reasons for getting out of a lease before baby is born....
Here is my situation... I have a small studio apartment (400 sq ft) and the lease is up at the end of the summer. The baby is due in June (of course!) 
The apartment size will pose two problems that I can think of:
1. I'll need to breast feed and eventually start storing milk in the freezer. The apartment currently has a mini fridge (the kind some of us may have used in college) and no freezer.
2. The rental company will have to show the place prior to leasing it to someone else. I'll have a newborn in a 400 square foot apartment with family stuffed in there somehow to help me out. I don't think its appropriate to keep taking a newborn out of the apartment each time people come by to look at the place. I will most likely NOT be in the spirit to do so either when the baby will be waking up to feed quite often and on so little sleep. I'll also not want to wake up the baby to leave the apartment just for this reason either. On the other side I doubt it would benefit the leasing company to come into a pretty stuffed apartment (wouldn't show well in my opinion)!
I just found a large 3 bedroom home to move into but I need to try to pose this situation by the leasing company in order to terminate my lease early. Can anyone think of other reasons I'm not thinking of that would help me when I speak to them tomorrow? I'm going to offer to find someone for them and to do it now before June comes around. It would work out perfectly since I can move into the new place in May.
Any insight from you ladies would be greatly appreciated!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Please help! Need valid reasons for getting out of a lease before baby is born....
My situation was different, but kind of similar in a way...
Our landlord told us he was selling the house we were renting when I was 6 months. I told him if he was selling, then we needed to be looking for a new place. Our lease would have been up may 15th. He put up a little fight until I straight up told him I was not going to be in any position to be showing his house. I focused on the fact that us getting the heck out of there would be best for both of us. I would just ask.
Our landlord was a creepy, chauvinistic old man anyways and didnt like me, so I didnt care to use him as a reference anyways. Im not sure how cool you are with breaking the lease. I know its a contract, but thats why places get deposits and first/last months' rent.
I was nice but firm. I was going to do whatever it takes to get out of that place while making my landlord as happy as possible.
edit: what you have planned to say sounds good to me. I would just turn it so that it makes it seems like a big pain for the landlord to have you there, and just luckily for them, you want out!
THanks for your response! Sounds like it worked out in the end though? Did you have to give up your last month's rent?
The lease is generally a binding contract for good reason. I would talk to your landlord about possibly finding a subleaser. That, however, would be on you.
If you break your lease, you could be liable to pay the landlord the amount of missed rental income, even if it's more than your rental deposit.
Personally, I would do the right thing, even if that means ultimately sticking it out.
He kept the deposit and we just paid last months rent (which was for 3/15-4/15 and we moved into our new place 4/1) We left on decently pleasant terms.
Breaking our contract wasnt that bad for us. He was out 500 bucks for may and kept the deposit just like he said he would if we did break it. I was shocked, but he was understanding about us wanting out. It just depends on the landlord and on the situation. Good luck OP
Thank you! I'll be honest and explain that it won't be beneficial to show the place with it being so crowded also. I know a tenant must envision themselves living there and post baby this will certainly not happen! I'm willing to help out as much as possible by finding another tenant and not leaving them dry either.. But I figured I'd ask so that I can make them understand that its not that I simply want to move out and cause them an inconvenience. I've never broken a lease but the 400 sqft apartment without a real fridge won't be a great place for the baby particularly with the amount of help I'll need.
I think if there is a waiting list of people trying to get into your complex it probably won't be a problem. If there are already vacancies, they probably won't let you out of your lease without a penalty. Honestly havig a newborn in a studio apartment isn't their problem and the rest of this is probably goin to sound *** but it is what it is.
You signed a lease to rent through the end of summer. That protected you - you have a place to live at $x/month and them- they have a tenant paying $x/month. Unless you move to a larger apartment in their complex or are super nice, I doubt they just let you out for having a baby. Honestly, you've known for several months that you were pregnant an I'm not sure it's their problem that you also plan to have family come say to help you out.
Last, I'm not an apartment expert but they typically show vacant apartments to prospective renters (as they all usually look the same). I've never walked into someone's occupied apartment hen getting tours.
Thanks everyone. Well for starters I was going to simply stay there. However, I asked them just to be prepared and they mentioned that they would be showing the place throughout the month and had a key to go in and out to show new prospective tenants. I'm sure they would give me a courtesy call though. Apartments are not usually always vacated prior to tours .. this happens a lot when the apartment is privately owned. When the apartment building is owned by a company they will usually wait until its vacated, clean it and then show it. In my case its not owned by a company but leased by them so they'll want someone in there just as I'm leaving. I understand this completely which is why I stated I'd be willing to make it less of an inconvenience on them and find a replacement for the year. The company and I are on excellent terms since I've always paid at least a month or two in advance for my rent and never caused them issues. I asked the company how the showings would work and THEY were actually the ones that asked if I would prefer to get out of my lease early. I just wanted to make sure I was thinking of everything for when I spoke to them to say yes. That's all.
Thanks everyone. Well for starters I was going to simply stay there. However, I asked them just to be prepared and they mentioned that they would be showing the place throughout the month and had a key to go in and out to show new prospective tenants. I'm sure they would give me a courtesy call though. Apartments are not usually always vacated prior to tours .. this happens a lot when the apartment is privately owned. When the apartment building is owned by a company they will usually wait until its vacated, clean it and then show it. In my case its not owned by a company but leased by them so they'll want someone in there just as I'm leaving. I understand this completely which is why I stated I'd be willing to make it less of an inconvenience on them and find a replacement for the year. The company and I are on excellent terms since I've always paid at least a month or two in advance for my rent and never caused them issues. I asked the company how the showings would work and THEY were actually the ones that asked if I would prefer to get out of my lease early. I just wanted to make sure I was thinking of everything for when I spoke to them to say yes. That's all.