Short Sale want to break lease early

File a complaint with the RPA to get more help with your problem.

If the owner is doing a s/s they most likely are not making their mortgage payment. If your rent is current then it is all going to the landlord bottom line. It is a tough situation for you. Time is the critical factor with a short sale. It would be helpful to know how far behind he is. That can give you somewhat of a benchmark until possible foreclosure and eviction. Each state has their own type of foreclosure process. Shoot me an email or call me at
214-586-8685 and I’ll be happy to help you with knowing more of your specific information. As a tenant you do have some leverage in this situation. You also have some tenant rights within your lease probably. Remember your landlord may be over leveraged and in trouble, an opportunist looking to dump a bad investment or a little of both…..

Hi Mark,

I am going through a similar situation, however, rather than a short sale, the current property I am renting is in a foreclosure process. The house has not yet been auctioned. Actually, the auction has now been recently moved to a later date, Feb 2011. I was under the impression that I would be evicted after the auction, originally set for Dec 30, 2010, I have found another home for myself. I am supposed to move into my new residence Jan 15, 2011. I do not want to wait for couple month and lose out on this opportunity. What can I do or what can I leverage with current landlord at the residence being foreclosed? Should I just stay and tough it out, then lose out on a opportunity of a nice home? or move anyways? What can I do?

I would not loose a good place to live. If the new land lord will let you move in February, great. But at the end of the day your going to have to move anyway. Time to move on.

I find myself in a similar situation. About a month ago a lawyer sent us papers saying the house was in foreclosure. We called the bank and the local court and they both confirmed that mortgage by our landlord had not been paid in a while and the house was being forclosed on. Last week I called the court and they said our landlord hadn’t even responded so the bank won by default and now they are waiting for a Judge to just sign off on it. Because of this impending forclosure we found ourselves a new place that is perfect for us. It is a very tough rental market here too. Now today the landlord said she is settling things with the bank and if we leave early we will owe the last 4 months rent of the contract. I don’t want to miss out on a good place for us, but I don’t want a lawsuit following me either. What can I do here.

First my landlord dropped the leasing company and took over the property as manager. He currently resides in another state. I thought something was fishy when the owner son all of sudden started to appear. A person I never met. When we met to exchange rent in February he mentioned that his dad need to have an appraiser come by the property to take pictures for a better interest rate. That was last week. I frequently check phoenix homes real estate to see about current properties that I can possible buy when my lease is up in September. Well as I was looking today I saw my house on the list going as a Short Sale. I have not been notified of this Short Sale in process as the paper work says that I printed out. Can I break my lease so that I can move when I find a secure home for my family. I need some help.

Hi Mark,

My situation is similar as well. We are half way through a year’s lease and the landlord just informed us the place is up for short sale. I asked that we get out of our lease early because I cannot even fathom the idea of people coming in and out of our home for six months! I’m stressed because I am alone most of time and feel that it is both a safety and privacy issue. They have offered to reduce our rent, taking $200 off. But I believe that by us accepting that we are getting paid to let people view our home with our personal property in it. Exactly what I don’t want. We have $5K deposit that we don’t want to lose. We pay our rent on time and take excellent care of the home. We just want to leave and find a place where we can rent in peace. What should I do? Thank you for your time.

I am in a situation where my tenants are not cooperating with me on any issues: 1) pet in the house when I have a no pet clause, 2) not maintaining the pool when it is our contract as their responsibility, 3) placing a lock on side gate and not allowing me to have a key, 4) not allowing me to install security pool fence despite giving the legal 24 hr notice of entry. This is just to name a few. I spoke with one of the tenant and she stated that if I wanted they can move out so long as they get their security deposit.

Can I do a cease of contract, or an early lease termination? I know that California is a special state and thus any help would be greatly appreciated.