Do I need to re-sign an Intent to vacate
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Do I need to re-sign an Intent to vacate
I am a resident of Newark, DE. My current lease runs out on March, 31st. As per
my current lease terms I am supposed to provide an intent to vacate 60 days
prior to end of lease. I shared my 2BHK apartment with another person and we
both signed the intent to vacate and handed it over on 29th January. I wasn’t
expecting to stay here in Delaware. My roommate found another apartment and
moved out. However, by mid February things changed and I landed a new job here
in Newark, DE. I went and verbally spoke with my leasing office and told them
that I would like to extend the lease hoping that I would be able to find a
new room mate by the end of march to share the rent with. I however did not
sign any paper or new lease agreement.
But now as my current lease end is approaching, I haven’t been able to find a
roommate and have found another cheaper place elsewhere as I cannot afford the
rent for the 2BHK apartment all by myself.
So when I contacted my leasing office saying that I will be moving out, they
are asking me to sign a new intent to vacate with a 2 month notice period.
Which means that I am liable for rent for the month of April and 8 days of May.
Is this legally valid ? Should I sign the new intent to vacate and stay till
the 8th of May or am I legally allowed to move out on the 31st of March without
any liability ?
Asked on March 8, 2018 under Real Estate Law, Delaware
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
If you did not sign any new lease, lease extension, etc., then your oral (that is the correct term for unwritten, not "verbal") discussions with the landlord prior to the end of your current lease term did not extend the term or create a new tenancy: the oral discussions about potentially extending, done while you still had the right to be there anyway (before the lease expired), do not change anything. Therefore, you should be able to move out at the end of your present term (the end of this month) pursuant to the written intent to vacate you already signed. Make sure you do leave before April 1; if you are still there in April, even without signing anything, you created a new month to month tenancy and would have to provide a month's notice to vacate (i.e. would be liable for at least another month of rent).
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