Q: My old landlords are trying to collect rent after I moved out of my St Louis apartment
I recently moved to Colorado and my old landlords are trying to collect rent through April. I signed a one year lease on March of 2016 for one year, and moved out Dec 28th of 2017. They are claiming I owe them rent still because they extended my lease without my knowledge or having me sign a second lease. I also paid first and last month's rent upon taking possession of the apartment, but they are claiming that what I paid does not cover last month's rent as it was a security deposit. What am I obligated to pay them to prevent a lawsuit?
A:
You are obligated to follow the terms of your lease. An attorney would need to read the lease to give you proper advice. Focus on whether the lease refers to the last month's rent as a security deposit. My guess is that it doesn't, because that would mean you were not giving any security deposit and if there were an damage after vacating at the end of the lease term then the landlord would be stuck without a security deposit.
There is no such thing as extending a lease without your knowledge. The lease terms control.
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