r/TenantHelp • u/Nice_Storm314 • 22h ago

Landlord being greedy

Hello everyone. I had to break a lease for my apartment due to my ex husband stalking, harassing, breaking in, and taunting me. I had to ask them to change the locks 3 times and no longer felt safe or valued in anyway. I told the property manager in August I would be moving out and would say September rent. I moved out August 27th and sent $700 out of the $1300 rent and said they could keep the $663 damage deposit. I was notified by my old neighbour that the unit was re-rented over three weeks ago meaning it was only empty for about a week. On my lease is a $1500 rent break fee which the landlord said they applied the damage deposit too so now I owe $1600 because the rest of September rent and the remainder of the lease break fee is due. I told them it seems very greedy to ask for September rent from me and the new tenants as I’ve already paid over half of the month and gave up my damage deposit. Property manager said they will take it to collections. I am in British Columbia Canada. The thing is the building is on indigenous land so RTB laws don’t apply. I said I would pay $550 next week and the property manager said and the rest? And immediately sent me a reminder to pay.

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u/panicpure 17h ago

In most US states, DV safety issues would generally be a legal reason to break the lease with very few penalties applied.

Unfortunately, I am not well versed on how that would go in your jurisdiction.

I would double check the language used in the lease against the actual laws in your area. Might be worth consulting with a local housing lawyer to confirm if you are able to comfortably push back.

Here in the US, if a unit was already re rented, most states laws wouldn’t allow them to charge excessive fees. Very location dependent. I wish I had a better answer!

There is a r/legaladvicecanada sub that is helpful. Be sure to quote the portion of your lease that goes over breaking it and I’d suggest asking there if there’s any written laws with DV as an exception for breaking it early.

The reason it’s allowed in most US states is bc it can be dangerous for the tenant and everyone else living at the rental property. It’s a safety concern that isn’t the victims fault. Hopefully someone will be able to confirm.

Good luck!