(NC) I'm having a lot of difficulty getting out of an apartment lease. legaladvice

I needed to terminate my apartment lease about 6 months early as my boyfriend and I decided to move into a house together. When I went to the office to let my apartment know I was moving out they gave me 2 options: 1) to pay 3 months of rent to buyout the lease or 2) put the apartment on market which meant I'd move out and would be responsible for the rent each month until the apartment was leased by someone else.

I chose the latter option because several of the apartment agents told me that I had a very popular floorplan, that someone had recently asked about this floorplan, and once I moved out it would be the only one like it on market. They told me in no way would it take more than a month for this apartment to be leased and I'd save money by avoiding the buyout. So, I made the stupid decision of trusting these people. Aug 1 marked the 3rd month of rent I've paid them, so at this point I have given them 3 months of rent (the buyout price).

In addition to have already paid them the 3 months of rent I have noticed that my energy bill (which they told I was responsible for as well) hasn't changed since I moved out. For a supposedly empty, 100% vacant, no human person living in it, my wattage for the last 2 months has been 481 kWh & 324 kWh. Which I believe to be really high for an empty apartment, considering my yearly average while living there was 472 kWh. To put this in perspective the last bill for 481 kWh was $67.

I also put in a work order request mid April of this year, and was not completed when I moved out in mid June. I believe this to be a break in NC tenant law where they are suppose to repair something with a reasonable amount of time. This request required for them to clean broken glass in a refrigerator and then order a new part.

They also told me the wrong definition of steering - they said they could not advertise or try to push sales prospects to lease my specific apartment.

I have also learned that they no longer offer tenants the chance to put their apartment up for market.

What can I do to get out of the lease ASAP without giving them anymore money?

Submitted August 06, 2015 at 01:49AM by lesmith7 http://ift.tt/1hjT25Y legaladvice