Housing issues / eviction

Since leases are contracts, there can be legal repercussions for breaking a lease even if the reason for breaking the lease was something such as domestic violence. In many states, there have been laws passed that will allow a victim of domestic violence to break a lease due to domestic violence if s/he follows certain steps laid out in the law. Often, these steps involve showing the landlord a protection order or police report, putting the notice in writing, and giving a certain amount of time as notice of breaking the lease. However, these laws generally address a situation where a person is going to break a lease but doesn’t necessarily address a situation where a person already broke a lease and then later wants to get the money judgment discharged. Often times, once a money judgment is already issued, the only option for the person to try to lower the amount may be in dealing with a credit counseling place that may help the person to negotiate some sort of settlement with the landlord or with the collection agency that was assigned to collect the debt. You may want to reach out to the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, a nonprofit organization for more information and other ideas, tips, and strategies. Their contact info is: https://www.nfcc.org/ or 800.388.2227 In general, a person should be wary of ever paying for credit counseling or repair since those can often be fraudulent. Going with a non-profit credit counseling organization is generally recommended by advocates in the field. Also, since I can’t speak to your state’s specific laws or what options may specifically be available to you, you may want to talk to a lawyer in your state to see if there is any legal way to try to get the debt discharged. Here is a link for lawyers, some of which may be free or low-cost if you qualify:LINK

Also, having a money judgment issued against a person can make it very hard to get future apartments. Often times, a landlord will sue the tenant in housing court for breaking a lease and can get a money judgment against the person as well as a judgment of possession of the rental unit. In many states, if a person is sued in housing court, the court records are public and can be accessed by anyone - often times, there are actually companies that compile those court records and sell that information to landlords. Also, a money judgment for rent can be on someone’s credit report. Therefore, a landlord who is considering taking someone on as a tenant may refuse to rent to that person if s/he sees that there was an eviction against the person in court or if s/he sees the judgment on the credit report. In these sorts of situations, sometimes the person who wants to rent the home may be able to try to find a sympathetic landlord to whom s/he can explain the situation and the reason for breaking the lease to see if the landlord would still rent to that person. Sometimes, going with a small landlord, like someone renting the second floor or their home who may not run a credit check or get the info about past lawsuits, may be the best chance to find a landlord who will rent to the person. Perhaps the tenant may have to offer to pay multiple months of rent upfront so that the landlord feels more confident that s/he will be staying for the length of the lease.