Can they do this?

[Titanium_Jim]

I didn't notice when I signed the lease, because they were rushing me through it (almost ddidn't let me move in when I had already rented the truck) but my apartment complex has a horrible automatic lease renewal policy, where if you do not provide 30 day written notice, your lease is automatically renewed on a monthly basis. I am moving out in two days, and they are telling me that because they did not receive the written notice in time, I will need to pay rent for July, even though by the 23rd of June they will have the keys.

I am trying to find a statute in Arizona laws that says that they must notify tenants within 30 days (or however many) of the deadline for the notice that it needs to be done, but I have not found one yet. I have, however, found one state code:

"A rental agreement, assignment, conveyance, trust deed or security instrument may not permit the receipt of rent free of the obligation to comply with section 33-1324, subsection A."

So I looked up that state code:

"A. The landlord shall:

1. Comply with the requirements of applicable building codes materially affecting health and safety.

2. Make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition.

3. Keep all common areas of the premises in a clean and safe condition.

4. Maintain in good and safe working order and condition all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air-conditioning and other facilities and appliances, including elevators, supplied or required to be supplied by him."

-with a bunch of other provisions.

The toilet tanks in here are over 20 years old and have black mold growing in them. It returns within a few days of bleaching the tanks.

What I want to know is, even though the situation is outlined in the lease agreement, should those laws protect me from having to pay, or would I be better off finding a code that says I must be notified of the 30 day deadline?

I know I need to talk to a lawyer, but between packing and the amount I am already paying to get into my house, this is not very possible. Can anyone help me? I absolutely will NOT pay this awful complex for a month of rent when I will not even reside in the same county. I would rather have the bad mark on my credit.

On a sidenote, they said that there is one chance that I will not need to pay the extra month. If they lease the apartment to someone else during July, I do not need to pay it. Other than that, there is no way to override the 30 day notice policy.

Any help/advice is greatly appreciated.

[deeder]

Sounds pretty standard to me man... Gotta give a months notice before moving out.

[Tofer]

It's the same thing with a cell phone contract. Even if your contract runs out on a certain date, they'll keep renewing it month by month unless you give them notice that you don't plan to re-sign.

[ddegroff]

Your up ****s creek with no paddle. It's standard that you need to give 30days notice even if your lease is going to be up.

You're probably going to have to eat the bullet on this one.

[cphafner]

standard language.

[Sensei]

We went through similar crap once with a landlord. The problem was that we gave notice, just not written. We found a lawyer that specialized in apartment contracts and he found many violations in the lease agreement that, if taken to court, would have brought punitive damages to the landlord. They settled out of court and we got our deposit back and our lawyer got paid.

Long story short, a lot of landlords are a-holes who don't hesitate to swindle people out of $$ no matter how long and how great a tenant you were. If you gave no notice whatsoever, it might be a tough case, but if you did indeed give notice, even if not written, you might find some way to get around it. If you can, try to find a lawyer that will work with fees contingent on winning or settling.

I hope things work out for you.

[Titanium_Jim]

So there's no way I can fight maybe with the moldy toilets and the codes I cited? I hate that I will probably be charged rent for next month when I will be out before the last week of this month.

My fiancee has been in over half a dozen apartments before where when the lease expires and you don't resign with management, the lease actually expires and you just leave. That's the way it should be. This policy sucks, but I'm not all that bummed about the bad mark on my credit, I just hate the management and want to come up with a way to really **** them over, up, sideways, whatever.

[Sensei]

As far as the mold goes, I'm not sure. My guess is that if you have proof that you informed the landlord and they refused to deal with the problem, they can just say you had an obligation to inform them.

On a sidenote, they said that there is one chance that I will not need to pay the extra month. If they lease the apartment to someone else during July, I do not need to pay it. Other than that, there is no way to override the 30 day notice policy.
Yeah, our landlord said the same thing. They didn't do jack to try to rent the apartment because they knew they were already getting rent on the unit.

Getting that check btw was (albeit sadly) one of the most satisfying feelings of vindication I've ever had.

[Titanium_Jim]

As far as the mold goes, I'm not sure. My guess is that if you have proof that you informed the landlord and they refused to deal with the problem, they can just say you had an obligation to inform them.

Yeah, our landlord said the same thing. They didn't do jack to try to rent the apartment because they knew they were already getting rent on the unit.

Getting that check btw was (albeit sadly) one of the most satisfying feelings of vindication I've ever had.

I bet. I would very much like to feel that.

I actually notified the management several times, starting around 5 months ago about the mold. I'm afraid they will do the same, try not to rent the apartment - even though we are leaving it better than when we moved in - just because they want to charge me, although it wouldn't make much sense because I pay less for rent than probably every other renter with the same floorplan.

In the part of the rental agreement about the renewal deal, there is a sentence that confuses the hell out of me, and makes me think if I talk to the manager, I may be able to settle this without paying, and get my deposit back too, since we're leaving the apartment immaculate:

"If management, at is sole option, chooses not to renew this Rental Agreement, and in such case. Resident(s) <may be a word missing here, bad print job> vacate on the expiration date of the Rental Agreement."
-I want to find out if that means the manager himself can 'choose' not to renew my lease, seeing that he could move someone in for more money than he would get charging my rent payment off to a collection agency.

As far as proof, most of everything was over the phone, and this place is ghetto; I would bet nothing on the phone gets recorded.

[Bicster]

If these issues were so great you wouldn't first raise them when you are moving OUT. Learn from this and read your contract next time.

[RBB]

that is pretty standard stuff. plus, its in the contract and you signed it. doesn't matter if you were rushed through it or not. no way you can get out of that one.