Having some legal FUN with getting out of our apartment early. They gave us a letter saying pay this amount due for the month of Dec. I paid it they later said wait.......we messed up it's a higher amount.

Contract doesn't address the final months rent calculation during an early termination. So all I can go off of is their letter which I included with our check. They accepted, cashed, were paid on that dollar amount which is by the contract term acceptance of rent.

So now they hold a $250 deposit which I am sure they are going to hold they will say we didn't pay the full amount due. So if they don't give that back I am thinking about taking them to small claims against them for that $250 they owe me.

Risk I run is that they rule in their favor......they keep the $250 and I owe them an extra $160ish for the remaining balance due they say I owe.(originally started at 480ish)

I think I have a strong case plus I could learn the legal system down here. Never done this before but at this point I am just mad.

 

Check your original full lease document, there is probably verbiage to the effect that clerical errors made are not the responsibility of the landlord. I'm also surprised there isn't some text about early termination or extensions, regardless of who initiates, that specifies to calculate rent on a pro-rated basis.

 

Having worked for an apartment complex I am surprised there is no early termination clause. Or it might be hidden in the clause regarding the deposit, that the deposit is forfeit if a), b), or c) happens.

I have been in small claims court in other states and in my limited experience the judges are pretty easy to work with. If you have documentation and present your case calmly and stick to the facts (no name-calling or "I know my rights" attitude) then it's pretty easy to win your case. But it sounds like you no longer have the letter, which means it's down to the contract. You didn't happen to write a note on the check to the effect of "Final payment for lease"?

 

There was a separate addendum to the contract that stipulated the terms around early termination but it did not address how to calculate the final months rent.

 

I read contracts in my job and am very familiar with the contract language. Long story short they don't have a leg to stand on when you look at WHAT THE CONTRACT SAYS in regards to the final months rent in regards to how it is calculated should it not be a full month. Plus they provided a final invoice asking for payment.......we paid, they accepted/cashed/cleared bank, that is acceptance!

I have an 800 credit score, just bought a house and should they put me into collections go ahead and TRY! I will get it tossed out my wife is a credit and collections agent for corporations. Between the 2 of us they won't get another F-ing DIME out of me.

 

Should have said that the first time around. Go for it...

 

Probably.

I looked into it an there is a 97 dollar filing fee and a 30 defendant fee. So at that point it's like what's the point! You might net out 100 after everything is said and done and you also risk the judge saying nope you owe them the full amount plus court fees.

So end of the day I think I will probably let them keep that $250 and they can then eat any of the other fees(less than that amount for utilities). If they return the $250 I will pay any utilities bills(water/sewer).....which should be what 50 bucks maybe!

Such a small amount to prove a point net net.

 

If you were to win, wouldn't they have to pay your costs as well?

 

No guarantee of that and nothing written into the contract about that. Though they do have something in there protecting THEMSELVES should they need to go to court etc.

Though if push came to shove I would do this, seek court costs, plus punitive damages for the PITA they caused me.

Wife checked with her finance director at her company.......said YES if they presented you a final invoice, you paid, they accepted by cashing your check.......YOU ARE DONE! Said that if they mess up a bill it's the customers option to "make it right". Though in this case I don't care if I burn the bridge. They shouldn't have cashed the check or contacted me before the 1st.

I gave the check to them early........with a copy of the letter(dated Oct. 29) check cleared Nov. 22nd. Then gave me a late notice Dec. 6th. Sorry you had over a month to figure out your mistake and correct it.

 

Re final payment for lease, I've used this before when making a payment for something with the details "Paid in full" in the comments, once the check is cashed it is hard to argure that additional monies are owed. I frequently look at how much per hour I get paid to do something, if net payout is on the order of $150 for a 4 hour chunk of (annoying) time, then it's probably not worth it, not like working on a car and paying myslelf (saving) like $50 an hour doing something fun.

Sometimes it's better to just let things go.