We had gotten into a 12 month contract on a property, in which, because of a job transfer out of state, we were only able to live in for a couple months. Before signing the contract I had asked specific questions about the early out clause because my husband was in construction & I knew it is a volital field at this time. I was told all we needed to do was to find another tenant because the owner did not have a "buy out" option although the tenants previous to us did, at least that's what we were told. We were also made aware the property sat empty for 2 months prior to our move in & that they have a hard time renting it or keeping people in it. After moving in, we found the pipes to be extremely loud, so it was not a wonder to us why people continue to move out. We cleaned the property immaculately & found tenants for it in a month.
In our state they have 15-30 days to return a deposit. On day 30 we received an email after we had emailed & called the previous week, stating that we were being charged a transfer fee of $200 & the disposal was charged to us, as it worked when we moved in & was broken (after I had told them about it) when we moved out. The house is 6-7 years old, unfortunately disposals don't last forever! So were charged for that as well. I had specifically asked about the return of deposits before moving in as well as any fees charged if there had to be an early vacate & was told about finding a tenant when moving out, not about the fee they would charge. When things were not resolved in 2 emails, they sent the information to their attorney who I find out attends state meetings, but am not sure his role with Real Estate there. They have done everything "right" according to their contract & the law of the state.
So, as a tenant who is middle class... What recourse would I have because I cannot pay an attorney $150-$400 hr to help, after we did what we were told to do? I can't believe i actually told them about the disposal or cleaned the place now!
Beware of them, they are horrible to work with & I really don't know if their contract is legal, as binding & ridiculous as it is...
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