Imagine living in an apartment and deciding to move out before your lease it over. Depending on your lease, you may have to pay a fee for breaking your lease, or you may have to keep paying your rent until the lease is up no matter what. In best case scenarios, you could find someone to take over your lease.

In this story, one renter was in this situation, and she even found another renter to take over her lease, but what the property manager tells her to look at her lease, she realizes it’s going to be easier to move out than she originally thought. The timing actually couldn’t be more perfect!

Keep reading for the whole story. It’s pretty satisfying!

You want me to read the lease. If you say so.

Back Story:

I moved to the big apple in April from LA and signed a lease for an apartment sight unseen.

It was the same price as my LA apartment but while in LA $1350 gets you a master bedroom with a walk in closet, private bath and three roommates. In NYC for $1350 they’ve turned my closet into the bathroom and I now weigh 135.0 lbs thanks to the 7 flight of stairs that I had to walk up everyday.

Some days I would raise my arms to put on deodorant and scrape my elbow on the ceiling.

One of my 5 roommates was an RN though so there was the upside. The only saving grace was that this apartment was pet friendly and had a in unit washer and dryer.

There was good news and even better news!

I hated living there and after two months when my job said I could work remotely I packed up and went to the Caribbean.

While I was there I won the NYC housing lottery.

For the first time in my life I could afford to live by myself in NYC of all places.

I’d read in forums that landlords are usually pretty happy for tenants when they win and let you out of your lease no problem.

She let the management company know her plans.

Present:

So in my optimism I sent the management company an email letting them know that I won the lottery and wanted to discuss terminating my lease early.

They told me to speak to the brokerage to get my room filled.

The brokerage told me that I would need to pay a brokers fee of $1350 and still pay rent until they filled the unit or I could try and fill it myself.

But there’s a new problem.

I find a guy who was already applying with the broker for another unit and he wants my room!

Then management says they want the guy I found to pay $1400.

This is genuinely the worse apartment that I’ve lived in I don’t feel right trying to get someone to pay $1400 for this room.

I’m in a bit of a time crunch as new guy wants to move in August 1st so I need to hire movers to take my stuff to storage the next day but if I don’t get the approval from management that everything is good to go on their end then there’s no point. So I need management to agree to let this guy take over my lease for the price that is on my lease.

Management certainly sounds greedy.

I argue that a new price would be a new lease and if they want to do that they would have to release me from the lease and market the apartment at this new price point.

They refuse saying that I should pay the brokers fee or forfeit my deposit and continue to pay rent until they get my room rented.

I’m upset because management basically wants to make more money and assume no risk. I would end up paying until they rent out the awful room to someone.

I tell them this is unfair and makes no sense.

Management says something the OP doesn’t think sounds right.

Then management tells me well there’s no lease take over in the lease.

I’m confused because I vaguely remember reading something about a $500 fee for a lease take over.

“Read your lease! We were doing you a favor before but now we’re only going by the lease!” Management tells me.

So I find my lease because I remember there being this $500 clause.

This is really good news!

I never found the $500 clause because written on the first page of the lease was Clause 2. Length of Lease: The term (that means length) of this Lease is beginning on 2/1/2022 and ending on 8/31/2022*.*

I’m elated! My move in date for my new place is 8/25/2022 so I no longer need to rush. All because management told me to read my lease.

I give them back a call and request the email address to send my 30 Day notice of intent to vacate or if it should be mailed as it’s not specified in the lease.

She was able to use his words against him!

Management tells me that I can’t break the lease.

I tell them, I’m not it ends next month. I send them a photo of the first page of the lease.

He sputters and says, “You know it’s a year long lease! This is a typo. As you know I just took over managing the building and I inherited some bad leases. ”

Never Miss a Story

Sign up to get our BEST stories of the week straight to your inbox.

I didn’t know this but I gleefully respond “Well I was doing you a favor before but now I can only go by the lease. If the lease says my term ends next month I have to honor that.”

The property manager had to honor the lease.

He hangs up furious that this is happening.

At this point I am no longer concerned about hiring movers so when he calls me back at 8PM I am ready to tell him the cut off for the movers was 4:00PM and that I will move out according to lease but he starts the conversation in a somber defeated voice, “You can move out on the on the 31st. We just have to go according to the lease. We will do a final walk through and give you back your deposit.”

As I am still in the Caribbean my cousin will be subletting for August and I will be moving into my new apartment when I get back.

Everything worked out in the end all because I read my lease.

That worked out well, but why not just continue to work from the Caribbean?

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

Yes, always read the lease!

This is what I was wondering too.

Another person offers congratulations.

Here’s some good advice.

That last comment is extra important right now. As shady as this property management company sounds, they will definitely try to keep the security deposit.

It’s amazing that there was a mistake on the lease that worked perfectly in OP’s favor. It’s almost like fate.