Landlord Charging Rent After Taking Keys And Re-renting Unit; We Signed Move-out Notice Without Understanding It

Location: Seattle, WA

Hi all, hoping for some guidance here.

My girlfriend and I are in Seattle. We signed a 12-month lease that goes through March 20, 2026. When we moved in, we got concessions (2 months free rent and $50 off monthly rent) tied to completing the full lease term.

In January we found a house to rent, but it required us to move in on February 5. We knew there would be overlap and were fine paying rent at the apartment through March 20, as long as we still had access.

My girlfriend went to the leasing office to ask if there was anything we needed to do administratively. The leasing manager gave her a Notice of Intent to Vacate form and said it was basically so we wouldn’t keep paying utilities after we moved. We made a mistake here and signed it without fully reading it, listing February 5 as the move-out date.

After that, management told us:

• we have to turn in our keys on Feb 5 and won’t have access after that
• we still owe rent through March 20
• the unit is already rented to a new tenant who moves in on Feb 12

They’re also saying that if we don’t pay everything they’re asking for, they’ll claw back all of our concessions.

What’s confusing to us is that we were willing to pay through the end of the lease if we could still access the unit, but once they took the keys and re-rented it, it feels like we’re paying for an apartment we can’t use while someone else is living there.

We haven’t paid the disputed rent yet, but we did receive a bill.

I know signing something without reading it was our fault, and I’m not trying to dodge that. I’m just trying to understand:

• can a landlord in WA deny access and re-rent the unit while still charging the original tenant rent?
• does signing a notice like this really override the lease end date?
• does re-renting affect whether they can still charge us or claw back concessions?
• is this the kind of thing that belongs in small claims (if it comes to that)?

Appreciate any insight. Thanks.