Normally the only way to get out of your apartment lease it to pay an early termination fee. Every contract should have one of these clauses. Most people don’t think they will ever have to leave early, but it does happen more than ones thinks.

And if you are renting from a private owner or landlord who supervises a small apartment community you can even negotiate the early termination fee.  With regards to public apartment communities, they probably won’t negotiate the early termination fee.

Fees You Can Expect

The majority of large apartment communities will charge you a fee normally equal to 2 months rent. Some properties will also require that they re-lease your apartment community. However, the latter rule is rarer. So if you rent in $800 per month you will have to pay a fee of $1600.

There are a few ways to get out of your lease, however, usually the apartment community must be in the wrong for this to occur.

1)  Is Something In Your Apartment Home Dangerous?

Maybe your air conditioner is broken or the railing on your patio is broken. But this is normally not enough. You will also need to send a certified letter to the rental office stating the conditions of your apartment home. They most likely will fix the issue(s). However, if they don’t respond you will be able to terminate your lease early.

2) Is The Apartment Dangerous?

Maybe your car has been burglarized several times and the management company doesn’t do anything. Or maybe several people have been robbed at gunpoint. This is called Premise Liability law. You will probably need an attorney to write a letter. Maybe the Texas city apartment community will let you out of your lease?

3) Military Exclusion

Saw you are in the military and you just signed a new lease at your Stafford apartment community. Then you receive transfer orders to Charlotte, NC. You will be able to get out of your lease early.

As you can see there is really no easy way to get out of your apartment lease. However, the law does provide several remedies.

So you have exhausted all your resources attempting to receive your commissions owed to you by the apartment community. What is your next step? You will want to write a thorough demand letter.

Where To Send The Demand Letter

The demand letter should be addressed to the property in question that has not provided you with the appropriate payment. You should send the letter to the apartment itself.

I like to send the demand letter to the management company as well. Sometimes you have a rogue apartment manager with an attitude. Sometimes the apartment manager just does not process the invoice at all.  I like to make sure the management company has a copy of the letter in their hands. I will also include a copy of the invoice, my broker’s license, and the W-9 too. That way there will not be any excuses.

Oh, and make sure you send the letter certified.

Whats In The Demand Letter

The letter should state the situation. Here you should simply include that you have attempted to contact the property to receive payment.  You have been unsuccessful in your attempts and you are writing this final letter to receive the payment. Make sure that they know you will use the court system as a final resolution. Normally you will want to give them 5 or 10 business days to comply.

Go to your local post office and mail the letter. Hopefully this will get you paid. Remember almost all Baytown apartments will pay you. And most of the Houston Tx apartments are more than happy to receive business from you.

Apartment locators are paid a commission from the apartment community when the refer a client to the property.  Almost all apartment complexes will let you know the fee they will pay you. It usually differs depending in the lease term. This is the easy part.

What do you do if the apartment does not pay you in a timely manner? All the apartment needs to process your invoice is a broker’s license, W-9, and invoice.

Of course if you are not on top of the situation they will claim they never received your invoice. So you will want to make sure they have the documents in hand as soon as possible. Then their excuses will begin to dwindle as why you have not received payment.

The next excuse you may here is that you have not been setup as a vendor. This should take one day. But they claim it will take two weeks.

Typically, I will give the property 90 days before I get upset. Usually if I call again they will state the same excuses before. Getting a hold of someone at corporate is the key. Most Woodlands Texas apartments will pay on time.

However, if you still cannot get payment after a reasonable amount of time, you will need to take the next step. This usually involves a certified demand letter.  And this step may lead to legal actions in the court.

Remember that most Sugar Land Texas apartments will pay on time.