Need to break a lease...urgent ,please help?

Question

Hi,

I had signed a lease starting september for an apartment with one more girl in USA.But I cant stay there and need to move out of country for some reason.I cannot get off the lease unless my roommate agrees and she is being real mean about it.I understand that she cannot pay my share of the rent and so I have offered to pay my part till she finds a new roommate but she is being really finicky about the new roommate.I havent been able to find anyone who matches her exact specifications(somehow i had matched thou:):)).

But i cant go on paying my part of the rent forever without staying there even for a day and the landlord rfuses to release me from the lease without her approval.What the heck do i do now:(:(.I am not financially strong at the moment and this is just about reducing me to bankruptcy.Please help its urgent.

I will be moving out of the country very soon.Will i still be held resposible and have to face legal issues if i stop paying?

Answer 1

Did you have any warning that your roommate would be "weird".  She is acting weird about not helping you to get out of the lease.  Is she mad that you are leaving?   WOuld she never have leased the place if she knew you would leave so soon?

Your options are few and they are all bad.   GO directly to the landlord and plead.  I am a landlord.  If someone is nice i might let you out.  Would you be willing to pay some money to buy your way out of the lease?

If you just leave, the landlord can ruin your credit by filing an eviction against you.  They could get a judgement against you for $THousands.  Do you care?  If you are gone, they can't get any money out of you.  If you see a car dealers ad for ZERO Percent financing-- you will pay 22% interest because of your bad credit.

You probably should just pack up and go.  (if the landlord is unhelpful). /

Answer 2

I suggest you do all you can to find a room mate she will be happy with. Tell her that you dont want to leave all the rent to her, but you wont be in the country, so she HAS to find someone, or live on her own.

I think she has every right to take you to court if you break the lease, but do you really want to end it all on bad terms? Do all you can to find a suitable replacement  

Answer 3

I'm sorry to tell you that the fact that you're "not financially strong at the moment" doesn't remove you from your obligation to the contract you signed.  Unless you can negotiate otherwise with the landlord, you are financially responsible until a new roommate is found and yes, if you up and leave without paying your roommate can sue you for 50% of the rent for the months she was living alone.