- Find out if you have a written lease. If so, your lease is governed by that document. If not, your lease is governed by the local law.
- Coordinate your going-forward plan relative to the lease with any co-signers on the lease, and any guarantors on the lease, as each of these parties will have obligations under the lease, as well as with any other persons living at the leased location.
- If it is possible that you may not personally be available to make arrangements to terminate or revise your lease with your landlord, appoint a trusted legal representative to make these arrangements on your behalf.
- If you want to terminate your lease, find out how much notice you are obligated to give your landlord, whether you will have to pay the remaining rent due under your lease, and how much time you will have to retrieve your personal belongings from the leased location.
- Reach out to local organizations and law schools if you need legal advice.
- Arrange for a trusted person to have keys to ensure that someone is able to remove your personal property if you are detained or deported. Remember that you have the right to enter your home to remove your property within a reasonable time, likely three days or less, after a lease is terminated. If you fail to remove property within a reasonable time you may owe the landlord for expenses associated with storing or disposing of the property.
- If you have friends or family members who wish to continue your lease you have three options:
- Continue the original lease with the landlord’s consent;
- End the original lease and enter into a new lease with the landlord’s consent; or
- “Succeed” the lease through an assignment or sublease from you. Check your lease terms regarding subleases and assignments.
- Update your mailing address with the US Postal Service from your old address to a new address.
- See, generally: https://moversguide.usps.com
- Contact any billing parties to update your mailing address, and contact utility services to end any applicable utility services if they are no longer needed at the leased location.
