Q: I was 4 days late in giving notice to move out. They want to charge me $2000 to break the lease. Is this reasonable?
I remember being told when I move in that I have to give a 30 day notice when I want to terminate my contract at the end of the first 12 months. However, I reread the contract recently, and it states that I must give a 60 day notice. The section that states I have 60 days also includes a 30 day notice period for the apartment to evict me (if needed). Due to this confusion, I was 4 days late in submitting my notice (I gave 56 days notice), and they want to charge me a $2037 buyout fee to break the new 12 month lease they say I was automatically signed up for. I want to tell them they can take me to court for that fee because I view it as unreasable to charge over $2000 for a 4 day delay. Do I have a case?
A: An automatic renewal clause is unenforceable in Ohio if the lease was not notarized, or the renewal is limited to three years total under Ohio's statute of conveyances. Most residential leases fail to either limit the automatic renewal or fail to get it notarized. Review the lease and see if the renewal is limited to three years or if there was a failure to notarize. If either are true, then the lease is a "perpetual lease" and unenforceable under Ohio law.
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