Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Wisconsin
Our lease agreement has a clause that allows us to terminate the lease early with 60-day notice in case we purchase a house. We made an offer on the house and it was accepted. We gave 60-day notice for lease termination along with a copy of the amendment to offer to purchase. On further request, we provided the landlord with a copy of offer and counter offer to purchase. In the copy we had whited out the sale price since it is to remain confidential till we close. Our landlord refuses to accept it as a proof that we are purchasing a house.
What are our options at this point?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Yes, you are certainly entitled to do as you please and "let the chips fall where they may? in the judicial system if the landlord chooses to sue you. Except for your security deposit, your landlord would need to sue you in order to collect any money due on the lease via wage garnishments or other judicial collection remedies. However, in the civil suit, you would have a "do over" before the judge or the jury to prove that you were entitled to be released from the lease. If the judge or jury is convinced that you satisfied the condition allowing you to get out of the lease, you would not be liable for such future payments as the lease allowed you to escape in this way. In most states, you can even recover any portions of your security deposit which were wrongfully retained by the landlord. Sometimes, you can even get double the security deposit and actual attorney fees in WI. Another option, of course, is to reason with the landlord and offer alternate proof of your purchase, i.e., via a copy of your recorded deed, etc. You really need to retain an attorney and go over this entire transaction in detail, since I do not have nearly enough information to specifically advise you in this matter; these are intended as general comments only and do not create any attorney/client relationship between us.