How to Break an Apartment Lease

There are times when you will want to leave the place that you are living. If you are living in an apartment, you may feel like you are trapped. Many apartment leases have substantial penalties for breaking a lease. The idea of losing this type of money may hold you back from the dream of moving. There are ways to move out of an apartment before your lease has extended. You can break an apartment lease without paying a penalty if you know how to read the fine print.

Step One

Take out your contract with your apartment complex. If you do not have a copy of this contract go to your landlord or leasing office and request one. Most apartments will be more then happy to give you another copy of your lease. To be able to break an apartment lease without a penalty, you need to know exactly what is written in your lease.

Step Two

Read through your entire lease contract. It is best to sit down and read the lease for your apartment from cover to cover to make sure that you know every detail of what you are locked into. You should have a notebook next to you so that you can take notes about what you are reading.

Step Three

Take notes on why the apartment complex will allow you to break a lease without penalty. There are many reasons that a complex will allow you to break a lease. These are written into your contract, you just need to find them. Some of the reasons that most complexes allow are job relocation and loss of job.

Step Four

Write a letter to your apartment complex that you want to break your lease. State that the reason that you need to break your lease is one of the items that you found in the contract. You will have to submit in writing usually 30 to 60 days prior to moving out to make sure that you are not charged more rent after you move. Check the lease contract to see how far in advance you need to submit this letter.

Step Five

Have your apartment move out ready a week before your scheduled move out date. This will give you time to clean and repair any damage to the apartment. By taking the extra time to do this when you are breaking your lease, you will make sure that you get back your security deposit.