Hello again fellow BK'rs. I searched this topic and found a few on point. Here's my situation. We leased a townhome in December because our attorney told us we would be foreclosed on very quickly. We filed in January and were discharged a month ago. Still no formal foreclosure proceedings and I am trying to play the Hampster Wheel game.
Our lease was for 12 months, till December 2011. We are moving out of the townhome and back in our old home for as long as possible. I told my landlord that we are moving out on Sunday. She responded that she will attempt to rent the space and refund our security deposit, but would hold us to the lease until December in the event she can't find a replacement tenant. An attorney once told me that when a lease is broken, the landlord has a duty to release it and mitigate damages. I am in Colorado and so was the attorney.
We didn't put the lease on our matrix and are past discharge. I haven't told the landlord we are in bankruptcy. My BK attorney told me, in very vague terms, when I addressed this pre-filing that landlords have different rights if we amend our filing to include them after discharge. I have no clue was he was talking about.
I would really appreciate any advice on how to proceed with this situation. How others may have handled it, what any of the attorney's here think, and so on. I feel like I am holding the disclosure of us being in Ch 7 as a card, but not sure if it's an ace or a joker at this point. Should I use it as leverage, or just be amicable and proceed under the assumption she will use diligence to find a replacement tenant. Should I tell here we're broke, which we still are? I believe I can sublease the property under the current lease, so I could try that as well. It would be easier for the landlord to do it, since we are moving 80 miles away. In a perfect world, how would you respond to the landlord? My foot is always in my mouth, but at age 57 and after this Bk experience I am finally learning to think first and speak later. We are on somewhat friendly terms with the landlord.
Thanks everybody!
Our lease was for 12 months, till December 2011. We are moving out of the townhome and back in our old home for as long as possible. I told my landlord that we are moving out on Sunday. She responded that she will attempt to rent the space and refund our security deposit, but would hold us to the lease until December in the event she can't find a replacement tenant. An attorney once told me that when a lease is broken, the landlord has a duty to release it and mitigate damages. I am in Colorado and so was the attorney.
We didn't put the lease on our matrix and are past discharge. I haven't told the landlord we are in bankruptcy. My BK attorney told me, in very vague terms, when I addressed this pre-filing that landlords have different rights if we amend our filing to include them after discharge. I have no clue was he was talking about.
I would really appreciate any advice on how to proceed with this situation. How others may have handled it, what any of the attorney's here think, and so on. I feel like I am holding the disclosure of us being in Ch 7 as a card, but not sure if it's an ace or a joker at this point. Should I use it as leverage, or just be amicable and proceed under the assumption she will use diligence to find a replacement tenant. Should I tell here we're broke, which we still are? I believe I can sublease the property under the current lease, so I could try that as well. It would be easier for the landlord to do it, since we are moving 80 miles away. In a perfect world, how would you respond to the landlord? My foot is always in my mouth, but at age 57 and after this Bk experience I am finally learning to think first and speak later. We are on somewhat friendly terms with the landlord.
Thanks everybody!
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