My lease ends May 25th. Notice given April 22nd. They're stating I must give 60 days notice or pay penalty of 2 months rent.

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My lease ends May 25th. I gave notice on April 22nd. New management is saying I must give 60 days notice or pay a 2 months rent penalty that will be in excess of $3000. I did not know if we could even move 60 days ago or if it would be safe to move 60 days ago. I gave notice April 22nd after tremendous trepidation and once it was clear Kemp was going to release the stay at home order. How am I to give any more notice than I did if we are to stay in place? Do I have any options or recourse? If so, how would you recommend I approach the conversation and protect myself? I have movers coming on Friday and the storage unit is rented. Your help and advice is greatly appreciated! Just as a side note: new management re-roofed the complex (2 story buildings) while everyone is at home and have done very little to protect the residents. Our package room has remained open and on 2 occasions I requested that they close the room because it is impossible to distance and residents were opening boxes and leaving them everywhere.

Attorney Answer

1
Monty Donohew ·
You have an interesting situation given the Covid-19 pandemic. You don't say whether there is a security deposit and whether it covers the two month's rent. I assume that you are going to move anyway, regardless, so I will answer the question with that in mind. You should notify your landlord that there is a doctrine of "force majeure" which essentially excuses a brach of contract whenever there is an unforeseeable circumstances that prevents someone from fulfilling the contract, like a hurricane, or war, or Covid-19. The rub is that there is a real question whether the cuircumstance prevented you from giving notice. The landlord may say that you could and should have given notice. The lockdown order would have prevented you from vacating as intended, but it may not be an excuse or defense for failing to timely notify the landlord. Regardless if you assert the defense, you may create enough uncertainty that the landlord will not take further action (in fact, few landlords pursue tenants for small amounts of money because even if a judgment is obtained, it is usually either uncollectible, or too expensive to collect). In any event, good luck, stay safe, and be well.
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