Has anyone had to break a lease during a Ch.7 - long

[BKFLA]

We currently are renting a house for a year long lease. We've been in the home for three months. Because of our credit situation, no one would rent to us so we took a place sight unseen literally out of despracy. Most of the appliances are falling apart and they made us leave all utilities in the home owner's mother's name for some sort of homesteading reason which sounds ridiculous to me. The electric compnay is threatening to shut us off because they never paid the deposit prior to our move in. We had no knowledge of this. I have called and emailed her several times the last few days with no repsonse to this matter and tomorrow our electricity will be shut off because we have no extra money to pay the $300 for them to keep it on. She also made us pay a $200.00 dep for the utilities in case we didn't pay. There are many things wrong with the place, but most are small other than appliances being broken which they will not replace. The place was absolutely filthy when we moved in and she refused to clean and we still had to pay $1000.00 dep.

Again, not an ideal home, but at the time we were desperate. Since we are in a CH 7, (we are filing on March 12), first, can the lease be added in if we break the lease due to their failure to fix things and allowing our electricity to be turned off (we also have 2 children to be concerned about) and how bad would an evasion of lease be on a credit report for renting in the future?

We also have foreclosed on a home (yes, we have had a VERY bad year and are in no way proud of this situation or what we're considering). My husband was laid off from his job and neither of us have been able to find one for the last 2 weeks. Anyway, any insight into this would be great. I can't find many articles on the internet that are helpful. Thanks!!

[Minnymouth]

Sounds like you have "one of those landlords".....

Yes, include the lease in your bankruptcy..... Sorry about their luck..... and don't feel bad about it, they are causing your electric to be turned off and your deposit will probably not be returned to you. Sounds like they need to be reported to the Better Business Bureau when it comes to their rental propery.

Do what you have to do, move etc, whateve it takes to help get your family back on track...

[kiddles]

You're not actually in Chap 7 yet, if you haven't filed, so if you break the lease before you file, include it as a debt.

Also, include the $1000 deposit as an asset owed to you in your filings. The trustee may get it, even if you can't!

[BKFLA]

Thank you guys so much for your reply. Do either of you know what the long term consequences are as far as renting in the future? With our trail of a BK, foreclosure, and then evading a lease....I wouldn't want to rent to myself! We're not like this, really. After losing our home and then having our cc's pile up on us....well I'm sure you know the rest. I'm just not sure how many landlords would be sympathetic to our situation. Thanks again.....I truly appreciate your replies.

[kiddles]

The general take around here seems to be that managed apartment complexes are more likely to pull the credit report, and go based on what they find there. Individuals who own and rent their own property are more likely to respond well to an honest "this is what happened, and what's changed since then" approach and take a chance.

[phoenyx]

BKFLA,

What state are you living in? You may want to look into your state's laws of shutting off electricity. By giving utilities somewhat a monopoly, states often attach restrictions on being able to shut off service.

For example, in Michigan, I have been able to prevent my utility company from shutting off my electricity for having not paid in a full 2 years because I have a CPAP, which is a medical device prescribed for sleep apnea. Michigan's laws appear to prevent a utility from shutting off electricity if someone who lives there has a medical condition that doesn't depend on electricity.

Additionally, some states that have cold winters (like Michigan) have periods of the year that utilities cannot shut off electricity.

Furthermore, if you're filing your Chapter 7 through a bankruptcy attorney, you might want to call him and tell him the utility company is threatening to shut off service. If you or your attorney notify them that you are the one living there, you might be able to stop or stall them.

[BKFLA]

We live in Florida. I actually was able to get in touch with her yesterday evening and told her that we would not stay in the property if she didn't fix things and pay the deposits that she owed from previous tenants and she paid them and set up a time to come out and fix things. Guess it just takes someone freaking out a little to get things done! LOL Thanks to all of you for your help!

[Joe Farmer]

Only one reason for the landlord to keep the electric

on in his name or a relative's name would be to cloud the fact that the house is being rented, and make it appear that he or relatives are living in the house rather than a tenant. The landlord might be avoiding paying tax on the rental income, or does not want to jeapordize the homestead by making it known it's a rental. Otherwise, there's no way a landlord would run the risk of having a tenant run up a huge electric bill. Research your county assessor site to find out if that house is listed as owner-occupied, or as a rental, and also whether if it listed as a rental at the local level- some ares require inspections and a rental tax paid to the city, etc. With a little detective work I bet you'll stumble upon some information that may out the landord in a position to be more cooperative with repairing your house, or allowing you to break your lease, etc. I betcha something's UP with that landlord...

[BKFLA]

Joe Farmer, that is EXCELLENT advice! I never thought of that, and believe me, we were trying to figure out why the heck she would do that! Thanks for the heads up! This place stinks. We also are still wondering why she wouldn't show it to us before she rented it. We snuck over and looked through the windows to make sure that it wasn't destroyed, but boy was it a filthy mess when we moved in. Pretty bad with her knowing that we have two children AND she OWNS a property management company! No joke....

[BKFLA]

I had to add...I found out that she's commiting homestead fraud...huge penalties in our county. We can't leave here right now because of our credit (although if it came down to our utilities being shut off I would) I know this is getting off subject, but I'm going to ask more about it in another forum and find out about it more. I want the utilities in OUR name, I hate doing this all in the landlord's name. Thanks again Joe Farmer for brining that to our attention.

[CindyLou]

Call your local housing autority office and ask if they can refer you to any tenant legal aide. It is ILLEGAL for a landlord to cut of your utilies! Also, a landlord is requried in most states to have a business license.

[Joe Farmer]

Whether your credit is rotten or not-

Turning off utilities to a rental is pretty serious stuff. Check the county recorder site to determine the official owner of that place, and whether it is recorded as a homestead, or as a rental- for example- in AZ failure to record a rental as such via the taxing authority has a fine like $600 a day or something amazing like that, and it's all public record. Call your local government to see if a license is needed for a rental, and whether they know it's a rental. Call your state government, or check the internet, for your area's landlord/tenant laws- most people would be really blown away if they knew how detailed those laws are, and the options for both parties, and the penalties for violating those laws. Start a paper trail, arm yourself, then officially inform your landlord that you are well-versed in the options available to you, and that neither of you will win if you have to get ugly with him, so it's time for a sit down to see what can be done to resolve this so you don't have to drag law enforcement and government into the situation. Chances are the landlord is living in the dark ages, and also has no idea of just how complicated it can be to rent a property, and the risk he is facing. Go GET 'em~

[Joe Farmer]

And may as well try one more tactic-

Call your local or county building permit/office of permits/zoning office to see if that rental had to have been inspected for fire safety, etc. before renting it out, even whether or not a license is required to operate a rental. Now THAT is one nasty can of worms to open....But is sounds like you have a nasty landlord, huh~ (And actually- one more piece of advice to all renters, now, is to ask the landlord prior to moving in if they have a mortgage on the rental, and whether they are PAYING that, because it's increasingly common that landlords are collecting rents, but not paying the mortgage, and allowing their rental properties to foreclose- and that is perfectly legal).