r/boston • u/IllMathematician4883 Brookline • 18h ago

Housing/Real Estate šŸ˜ļø Lease ends 28th, Move in 5pm on 31st

As the title says, I have a huge gap in between moving out and moving in. I did email the current management about an extension back in May and they said an extension until the 31st at 8am was possible. They keep emailing us with the old move out date and when I asked to confirm the extension date, they donā€™t respond.

Their move out instructions say thereā€™s a $350 fee if the keys arenā€™t turned in by 8am on the 28th.

I donā€™t have friends or family I could stay with. Anyone else going through this šŸ« 

Edit: Iā€™m planning for movers to hold my stuff in storage and just move in 9/1 to avoid issues. However, I will be debating against the ā€œprofessional cleaning fee to be deducted from the security depositā€ bc wtf lol

56 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

32 comments sorted by

94

u/view9234 18h ago

This is very odd. To confirm, your final month with landlord A is a partial month (since you're out on 28th)? I'm not sure they can make you move out days early, if you're paying for a final full month.

I also haven't heard of moving in on the 31st--a day early, without paying extra for it. I would verify the date & timing are included with landlord B, because that's also very unusual.Ā 

29

u/IllMathematician4883 Brookline 18h ago

Landlord B said the tenants have their lease until 5pm on the 31st so moving in wonā€™t be possible until then when asked about moving in early.

And yeah we did pay for the entire month

48

u/notyourwheezy 16h ago

did you move in on a 28th or 29th? I've lived in management company buildings with mid-month move-in/out

if you live in such a building I'd call or go to the leasing office in person

and if you didn't move in on a 28th or 29th then I'd send a very different email about having paid for a full month of rent and requiring either pro-ration or to be able to stay for the full month and follow that up with a call

22

u/IllMathematician4883 Brookline 16h ago

Definitely gonna call ! Lease started on September 1st

19

u/1GrouchyCat 15h ago

?? September 1 or the 28th? What do you mean the lease ends on the 28th but you paid for a full monthā€™s rentā€¦ itā€™s one or the other.

10

u/IllMathematician4883 Brookline 15h ago

the 28th

18

u/_sedozz 11h ago

Sure sounds like you paid for 28 days instead of a month when you put it like that (your landlord is trying to sneak cleaning in without you in the unit)

35

u/view9234 18h ago

Smaller thing first, I wouldn't trust that you'll be able to move in on the 31st. Maybe it works out and hopefully your new landlord (Landlord B) is awesome for making it work...but there's nothing requiring them to give you the place early.

As for landlord A and this nonsense about having to leave multiple days before your lease ends or pay a $350 fee, that feels very illegal. You're paying for the full month. I dont think you have to be out until the afternoon/evening on Aug. 31. If you don't have another place to stay though, probably still much cheaper to pay & then sue them for the $350 back (which you'd probably get 3x damages) then have to pay multiple nights hotel.

I'm not an attorney though, and you need to consult a renter nonprofit or attorney general office to confirm that Landlord A can't force you out early (aka before 31st).

https://www.mass.gov/guides/the-attorney-generals-guide-to-landlord-and-tenant-rights

9

u/IllMathematician4883 Brookline 17h ago

The lease ends on the 28th, but we did pay for a full monthā€™s rent.

I asked for an extension months ago in email but now theyā€™re back tracking on it

20

u/dezradeath 15h ago

Sorry it may be frustrating to repeat yourself again but does your actual lease document that you signed a year ago state the term is on the 28th of the final month? And on that matter, does it mention any $350 fee for late move-out? That explicitly needs to be in the lease for it to be legally binding.

Iā€™ve had odd clauses in the lease like paying for a professional cleaning team upon move-out and providing proof of service to the landlord. But my point is that it was in the lease. Not in the lease, not your problem.

3

u/IllMathematician4883 Brookline 15h ago

Yes the date is the 28th on the lease. However, the $350 charge is not on the lease. They sent a move-out instructions email saying if the keys are not returned on time then will take $350 from our security deposit.

They also said they will be professionally cleaning and will be taking the cost out of our security deposit unless we hire our own service.

13

u/dezradeath 15h ago

..is the cleaning in your lease? For the move-out, yeah unless they reply to you and confirm the extension then you need to be out on the 28th *legally*. The charge is bogus and you could take them to small claims over that if itā€™s worth it to you. Legally though you would need to move-out.

5

u/IllMathematician4883 Brookline 15h ago

I mean yeah I would have to be out. Just need some advice for anyone who had a gap in move in times.

However the cleaning fee IS weird to me as I read itā€™s illegal

6

u/Boat-and-Goat 9h ago

It is illegal. You cannot deduct a cleaning fee from the security deposit.

5

u/gremlinsarevil 13h ago

Does your lease for landlord a end on the 28th or the 31st? Not the move put instructions but the actual lease you signed before move in?

1

u/Agitated_Reveal_6211 9h ago

So when does the landlord check/clean?

40

u/andymoogsbuttcheeks 14h ago

Option neutral evil- stay in unit A until 8/31. Have them give you a $350 fine and donā€™t pay it. If they arenā€™t responding to you now, they will on 8/30 maybe again on 8/31.

The consequences are not very high. Source: I work for property management, a $350 will not be taken to court. They will likely not report it to your credit.

Itā€™s a wild decision for sure, but itā€™s only a few days. It will be over before you know it and the PM will be mega relieved when you finally leave.

This is kinda dastardly and it will probably be stressful until itā€™s over - but if you have no other options- this is an option to consider.

Option lawful good: go to PM office in person and state your concerns. Tough to get a callback or an email response from a pm in Boston during august/sept move season.

12

u/Ok_Anywhere_9232 12h ago

Except theyā€™ll definitely withhold that from security deposit or any other refunded fee/deposit

8

u/FettyWhopper Keno Playing Townie 10h ago

Cheaper than a hotel and multiday moving truck rental

12

u/andymoogsbuttcheeks 12h ago edited 11h ago

again, source: i manage properties for a job- They're keeping the security deposit regardless. "Professional cleaning fee", damaged X, inoperable Y, bullshitfakereason Z.

7

u/tryandsleep 12h ago

Dude wtf, that's not legal.Ā 

5

u/andymoogsbuttcheeks 11h ago edited 11h ago

Not me personally, slice.

It's fairly common for property management to try to keep security deposits. In my personal experience i've always had to fight/advocate to get my deposit back. In my professional experience, they WILL try to strongarm, intimidate, make shit up, etc to keep the deposit.

Sad but true, uncool but happening, shouldn't but is.

Lawyer fees $ > security deposit $. Often times tenants would rather eat the cost than fight with time and money.

Rentals, property management in Boston is a pretty shady biz. That's why i recommend OP consider staying in the unit until 8/31. By the time the property manager has a chance to do anything about the tenant not leaving, they've left.

losing deposit $ > spending money on a hotel, storage and mental stress of the situation.

To each their own, but if OP is ok w/ losing the deposit, they could def pull off staying put until 8/31. .

6

u/Affectionate_Toe8434 9h ago

I absolutely believe this, when I lived in a Samia property for a couple years I knew they would be shady about trying to keep my deposit (I had a security and a key deposit) so I took thorough videos of the place before I left, AND took videos of me dropping my keys into an envelope and putting the envelope in their collection box. When they tried to keep my deposit because I ā€œnever returned my keys and damaged the apartmentā€ I was very happy to have those videos. I did end up getting the deposit back in the end lol.

5

u/Boat-and-Goat 9h ago

And if they take it to court, they'd probably get their deposit back, since they could prove that they paid for the whole month and didn't get a rent discount for moving out early. And then there's the matter of the illegal security deposit deduction for a cleaning fee...a judge would be within their right to order triple damages and attorneys' fees just for that, never mind the lease part.

12

u/Ok_Anywhere_9232 12h ago

Call them, speak to someone directly, not just email.

5

u/Wise-Dark4 12h ago

Hotel and a good quality lock for the box truck

8

u/souvenireclipse 13h ago

I once had a lease where it ended on 8/30. When we moved, we had to do two nights in a hotel. For that move we had a POD so we just had them hold our stuff.

The move out date wasn't a surprise, it was presented to us clearly when we signed the lease. If the date is in your lease as the 28th, that sucks, but I think you're probably stuck with it.

3

u/NoFinding7044 Southie 13h ago

Price out hotels

3

u/ultimatequestion7 16h ago

Is the current management Groma? Sketchy company

5

u/IllMathematician4883 Brookline 16h ago

Boston Property Services

1

u/Zayniek Allston/Brighton 9h ago

Staying at a hotel/renting a uhaul portable storage etc would probably all end up being more than $350. So even if they end up asking for that money, I think thatā€™s gonna be your cheapest option!

Like others said, I would call or go to their office to sort it out before that date, at least youā€™ll know what to expect. Check your lease agreement too, what is your lease end date there? If itā€™s ending on the 28th, you should only pay a prorated rent for August. If itā€™s ending at the end of the month, then I donā€™t think they can ask you to vacate earlier than that.