Page 9 of 11
Ending your lease if you
are “totally disabled”
If you are totally disabled, there
are special rules about ending
your lease.
You can end your lease without
paying extra IF these 3 things are true:
1. You are totally disabled and
2. Your landlord won’t let you make changes
you need because of your disability. These
changes can be things like a wheelchair
ramp or grab bars in the shower, and
3. You have been approved to move into
public housing.
Things you broke or messed up in
the place
When you move, take all of your belongings and
trash. Leave the apartment “broom clean.” Make
sure the kitchen and appliances are clean. Try to
x any small problems you see.
Did you pay a deposit? Does your lease say
you get it back if you didn’t break or mess up
anything? When you are ready to move, do a
walk thru with the landlord. Set a time to do
the walk thru. You and the landlord should go
together. Make a list of any thing that is broken
or messed up. Take pictures. See if you and the
landlord can agree on what you must pay for.
You have 5 days to do this. The 5 days start on the
day you move out.
The landlord may give you a wrien notice of a
time to do the walk thru. If you go, together you
make a list of what is broken or messed up. You
decide what you must pay for.
What if you don’t go to the walk thru? Check your
lease. It may say that if you don’t go, the landlord
gets to decide what you must pay for. He can
take the cost out of your deposit.
You don’t have the right to a walk thru if you:
• Moved out without giving wrien notice
OR
Damages
Hole in wall $200
window $100
sing door $300
TOTAL $600
• Were evicted by a court order OR
• Don’t ask for a walk thru OR
• Don’t show up for the walk thru OR
• Don’t tell the landlord how to reach you OR
• Abandoned the place by:
o Being behind on rent AND leaving for
30 days or more without saying why
OR
o Being 15 days late with the rent AND it
looks like you have left for good.
Ask the landlord for a
written list of what he
thinks you should pay for.
He must do this before he
xes the problems. The list
must say what it would
cost to x the problems.
Things you don’t have to pay for
Were some things broken or messed up before
you moved in? You don’t have to pay for those.
Check the list you and the landlord signed before
you moved in. It proves what was already broken
or messed up.
You don’t have to pay for damage caused by just
living there. This is called “normal wear and tear.”
It is things like a leaky
faucet, worn rugs or paint
wearing o. This happens
when a place gets older.
You do have to pay for anything worse than
normal wear and tear. This happens when you
don’t take good care of a place. Examples: broken
windows, doors pulled o, cigaree
burns in the rug, holes in walls or
doors. Did you or someone you let in
tear up things? Then the landlord can
make you pay to have it xed.
If you get a list of things you must pay to x,
read it carefully. Don’t sign this list unless you
agree you should pay for it. Don’t agree with the
landlord’s list? Then make a list of the things you
don’t think you should pay for. Sign and date
this list and give it to the landlord. Keep a copy.
If you have to go to court, the judge will look at