Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Massachusetts
Rights
My wife and I rented a condo from a landlord residing in MN. I rented in May and in November my landlord advised me that the condo would be sold ASAP. Her first thought was that I would have to move out, but i advised her that my lease was until April 30th 1999. She put the condo on sale through a broker in january of this year, and I advised her that if I found somewhere I would move out prior to the end of the lease. (this is not in writing) I then found somewhere else for March 1st. The broker advised us that she did not think the landlord would have a problem if we broke the lease. She is now demanding the rent for March and April if she does not sell the property. Can she?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Rights
What town are you in?
How uncanny. I just negotiated with another landlady (through her
attorney) for an almost identical situation: leaving two months early
on a lease and getting the landlady to agree not to pursue them for
the rent for those two months. In my case, it went very smoothly.
As a tenant in Mass., you are in a position of great power.
The facts of life are that she's better off letting you go early than
fighting with you. But you would like to have that acknowledged in
advance, probably, right? That's why you want a lawyer to call her
for you and explain the legal facts of life in Mass. The alternative
to her letting you out of the lease early is that you don't take the place
you found after all (but be careful how much you tell her about that
other place and what you would stand to gain or lose -- best let a
lawyer handle it!), you stay put, and you don't necessarily leave at
the end of your lease year; in fact, you don't pay any more rent, either,
and you can generally (you say) get about 6 months before an eviction
would take place, or more.
You'd better contact a lawyer; I can do it for you but I'd like to get paid.
You might be able to find a lawyer to do it for little or nothing.
There's another practical reality better explained by a third party
than by you: the expense of her trying to collect money from you after
you've left, if you are cagey enough, would outweigh what she could
collect. I have some war stories to tell about landlords who tried to
collect even much larger amounts of rent due, even with a court judgment
in hand. Even $5,000 isn't worthwhile.
I'll be in the office Wednesday. What town are you in?
Stuart Williams
Law Offices of Stuart J. Williams
21 Walter St.
Newton, MA
02459-2509
(617) 527-0050
Call OR e-mail me before Wed. 9 AM.
Stuart Williams
Law Offices of Stuart J. Williams
21 Walter St.
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