Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Texas

I recently moved out early of an apartment I had rented. I had gone into the leasing office numerous times starting with the first time to just to talk to the manager to understand the procedure of breaking the contract early. I had signed a one year lease and I was about half way through the term when I decided it would be beneficial to move back to my parent?s house. I went in and spoke with the manager and told her about my problem. She advised me that if I was interested in breaking my lease I would need to sign a 60 day notice and pay the reletting fee. I had already paid for the month of March, when I went in to sign the 60 day notice, which was the beginning of the month, so I stayed for the month of March. They told me that if I were to move out by the end of March there was a possibility they could move a new tenet in at the start of April and I would not be responsible for that month of rent, so I did. 3 months later I recieved a piece of mail telling me I owe $7200 in fees for abandoning my apartment. I?ve been back about 3 times to discuss this amount and each time they lower the amount. the first time I went in with this carbon copy saying I owed them that large amount of money($7200) for abandoning my apartment, not paying reletting fee and some other charges, they told me to give them a few days for them to locate the paper work to adequately inform me on how much I owed. I did, in fact I gave them 2 weeks and I had yet to receive a call back. One thing I forgot to mention was that on the carbon copy there was a stamp that stated "you have 30 days to pay the amount due or it will be sent to a collections agency", (not word for word). so after waiting two weeks for a call I began to be a little impatient, there went half my time to pay money if I had to, waiting for them to call me back whenever they felt like. I called them and they said yes, they found my paper work so I told them I would go into the office to speak with them. I showed up later that day for Rachele to inform me that I no longer owed the $7200, I actually owed about $1200 dollars because they found the 60 day notice that alleviated most of the amount. I still was responsible for a reletting fee, one month of rent, and some other charges and fees. I then asked Rachele to check their records because I clearly remembered paying the reletting fee. It took no time at all for Rachele to find the deposit register and find my reletting fee payment. So now for the third time the total has been changed, now to $739. Now I?m responsible for one month of rent and the last water bill. at this point I am very confused because I had asked them last time I was in their office when I received the letter why I was encouraged to move out early for someone to move in to my apartment by the beginning of April to supposedly keep me from paying the remaining month of April for which I was responsible for and then charge me for it later, they continued to say they didn?t know what I was talking about and what was spoken is not valued, had to be in paper. I went into their office, trusting they would give me honest advice on what I should do, instead I feel deceived and lied to, why they would encourage me to move out and then 3 months later try and charge me $7200 dollars and on top of that charge me for a month of rent when they had moved someone in about 3 days later into the same unit. It seems to me that they are trying to earn two profits off the same unit in one month, additional to all the other thousands of dollars in fees for allegedly breaking a lease I feel that I didn?t, I did everything they had prescribed me to do. Back to the amount I allegedly owe. After I communicated my feelings and views about what was going on Rachele agreed to speak with her manager which is their general manager, Samone, about the discrepancy. Rachele told me to give her a few days to call Samone about the situation, in the middle of this conversation she told me she may have gotten confused between the differences in polices at different properties at the numerous times I was encouraged to move out. I gave Rachele a week to return my phone call, which was not, so I called them back, again, and was informed by Jennifer, a sales consultant, that I was in fact still responsible for the $739 or so, but now the amount has gone down now to $659, because one more item has been deducted from the grand total I owe. In all of the meetings prior to these conflicts my mother was present in all these meetings for help if I didn?t understand any of the terms used by the office personnel. what my main question or misunderstanding is that they, the whole office personnel, not only encouraged my move out sooner than what they should have, telling me if I move out and they could find another tenet, that I would not be responsible for paying that month of rent, but called me in enthusiasm that they had found a qualified applicant that if everything went smoothly on their paperwork that I would be relieved of my responsibilities. How can I be charged for a month of rent when there was someone else living there and after they told me I wouldn?t have to pay? The last time I was there in their office I spoke with Rachele and very clearly asked, is there any other money I need to pay or papers to sign. Why would they do this if they knowingly would charge for it later? Why, and this may be none of my business, but why is it that Rachele, the property manager, is now fired? Would it be because she told her boss, the GM, what she had allegedly said in the past that she brought to her supervisor?s attention to try and extinguish all this confusion, and now possible trying to cover that up or keeping this problem from being properly and rightfully taken care of.

thanks so much for any help or legal advice-Justin

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