Landlord Wants 3 Months Of Rent And Forfeiture Of Deposit For Early Termination

Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Hello all,

I'm in the midst of moving after a death in the family. My landlord originally requested 3 months of rent and my deposit to break my lease.

However, my lease was up in January and I was put into a 3 month renewal period twice because my landlord would not send me a new lease or respond to my messages. I've looked over my lease again and again and cannot find anything about early lease termination penalties, just a 3 month notice of non-renewal.

Along with this, I've also had problems with bed bugs originating from another unit (from what pest control professionals have told me) that the landlord and property owner will not fix because it is in the lease that the tenant is in charge of dealing with pest problems.

I wrote and sent my landlord an early lease termination notice on Wednesday stating that I will be out by the end of the month and will take on any financial responsibilities I may need to. In it, I outlined that I would not be renewing my lease given the death in my family, the ongoing pest problems, and not hearing from my landlord for months. I was able to talk to the property owner about it and he seemed amicable, but I heard nothing from my landlord until today. My landlord stated that my notice was misleading and he could agree to charge 2 months rent and my deposit to break my lease. And now, the property owner has also decided to insult my intelligence today by saying some people are confused by any rule and my confusion over my landlord stating my notice was misleading is unfounded.

What should I do? Should I pay the 2 months rent and forfeit my deposit?