Break lease within 72 hours?

Question

Hello! I have serious problem. I live in Maryland. I signed lease for town house on last Thursday at 10.p.m I got notice from management office I am now living at. It said that your lease was extended for 12month because I did not send vacate notice before July 1st. If I want to move out, I have to pay the termination fee for two month rent. My lease is supposed to end at August 31th but they extended my lease without my agreement. I want to break the new lease. Is it possible not to pay the penalty? I heard that it is possible if I cancel the lease within 72 hours. Please. Answer me fast. There few hours left. Thank you

Answer 1

The '72 hour right of rescission' generally does not apply to contracts involving the rental or sale of real estate.  Many people are under the mistaken concept that ANY contract can be cancelled by notice before 72 hours have expired.  This is simply not true.

You should contact the place where you signed the new lease and inquire as to whether they will allow you to cancel in this short time frame.  However, if they do not agree, you are now bound to TWO lease agreements legally.

For clarification of the automatic lease renewal statute in Maryland, please refer to Maryland Statutes 8-208 (b)(1).  If the requirements of the statute have been followed in your original lease, the automatic renewal is valid.

Answer 2

Did you read your lease? VERY FEW self-renew. If it does then you are stuck. You cannot get out of the second lease without a substantial penalty unless the landlord is soft-hearted.

The 72 hour rule is is only for door-to-door salesmen and telemarketers.

Answer 3

Wow, you really got yourself in a pickle.

You failed to properly terminate the lease before the automatic renewal kicked in. If the requirements (renewal provision distinctly set apart from other provisions & space provided for tenant's written acknowledgment) were met and you initialed or witnessed the clause, you agreed to it and gave them permission to auto renew when you signed the lease. You are stuck with that lease. Perhaps you should have read your lease more carefully.

You current landlord is willing to accept 2 months rent + the termination fee to cancel the renewal lease. That amount is set in stone.

As for the second lease, there is no such law allowing you 72 hours to cancel a lease. What you heard is a myth that will not die. You are also stuck with the new lease.

Does the new lease have any early termination fee clause in it? If so, you are liable to pay that penalty to break it.

If no penalty is defined, that landlord can hold you liable for the rent until a replacement tenant is found, as well as any costs incurred due to your breach. Your liability may end quickly if a repalcement tenant is found right away. If not, you could be liable for a few months rent.

You need to find out which is the cheaper lease to break.

Per Maryland landlord/tenant laws:

Automatic renewal provisions for periods of more than one month

Where a lease provides for automatic renewal of the lease unless prior notice is given by the party seeking to terminate the lease, that renewal provision must be distinctly set apart from the other provisions of the lease, and space must be provided for tenant's written acknowledgment of that provision.  Without tenant's signature, initials or witnessed mark, the landlord may not enforce the automatic renewal clause.  The validity of the rest of the lease is not affected by the absence of tenant's acknowledgment of the automatic renewal clause.

This provision applies only to automatic renewal periods of more than one month.  (Md. Code, Real Property, Sec. 8-208)

Answer 4

Automatic renewal clauses are very common. They are often overlooked by tenants who may sign a lease without reading it in its entirety or who may understandably be confused by the apparent inconsistency.

State and local law govern the use of automatic renewal clauses. Automatic renewal clauses of a month or less are enforceable in Maryland. You must give the required notice and, until you do, the lease will remain in effect on a month-to-month basis. Automatic renewals of more than a month are also enforceable, as long as they are clearly set apart in the lease and have been initialed by the tenant.

EDIT:  Sorry, but it looks like you are now bound to two leases.  You may also have a payment penalty (most likely you do) for the townhouse lease you signed.  I guess at this point you have to decide where you want to live, because you will have to pay to break your lease at either place.

Answer 5

Here is something to help you.

It is most likely ILLEGAL in your state for an "automatic" clause to even be written in the lease stating that the full lease term will automatically be renewed.

Month-to-month renewals are very, very common...however, FULL LEASE TERM automatic renewals are not only uncommon, but I have never seen a state where they were legal.

Rule of thumb:  Don't assume that just b/c it's in the lease, and they got you to sign it, that it automatically equals a legally binding contract.

Because I am here to tell you...that it doesn't.

If that were the case, trust me, every landlord on the planet would be taking helicopters to their attorney to get that inserted.

1.  Review the lease very, very carefully...MAKE SURE the language is in there.

If it's not, then they cannot do what they claim.

2.  If by chance it does, pay an attorney $100 to review it and send them a letter telling them that it's not legal.

I can tell you that the new lease you signed was legally binding the second you walked out the door.

There is no such thing as a 72-hour cancellation period.  That applies to door-to-door sales people, timeshare contracts, and other TANGIBLE goods.

Answer 6

Where I live you must give a full month notice plus a day to move unless it was specified that you leave on the day your lease ran out.

My leases all run on a month to month basis once the years lease is up unless both parties agree to stay in a lease situation.

I think if I was you I would be giving the current landlord my months notice and eat the cost as he has a duty to mitigate his losses.

If they are the type landlord that would take advantage of the situation I think you would be happier not dealing with them any further  and you obviously wanted to move so move into the new place and take you time since you will be paying a months rent in both places any how.

Let your current landlord give you some incentive to move out faster.