Metro Apartments of Collinsville

moved into *** on 12/30/2019. On Friday January 10, 2020, they both came into the leasing office to discuss that *** no longer had employment in the local area and they wanted to terminate their lease agreement. After letting them know that we are sorry to hear this, I explained the break lease agreement and associated fee of $1200 as well as a full 30-day notice to vacate with rents paid in full would be required. They stated they wanted cheaper rent and that *** may likely move back to Chicago. They stated they will need to think about it and will get back to me. I did let them know that if they wanted to vacate by the end of February 2020, we would need their Notice to Vacate and the Break Lease Agreement signed not later than February 1, 2020 and that all monies will need to be paid in full before vacating the premises. On February 25, 2020 *** came into the office to discuss transferring to a smaller and cheaper unit in the community as they stated they are not making as much income now as when they first moved in. I let them know that we do not do mid-lease transfers within the community. They would have to fulfill their current lease or pay the Break Lease fee in order to relocate to a different apartment in the community. I reviewed with them our Break Lease Agreement, that we had also discussed on 1/10/2020. The response was that they would just break their lease on 3/25/2020. I let them know if they are putting in their notice to vacate today, it would be effective through 3/31/2020, which is a full 30-day notice to vacate. They asked for special accommodations since they no longer had the employments that they moved in with. They stated they wanted their late fee waived and to terminate their lease early without penalty. I explained that was not an option and that we did make an accommodation with them when they paid their rent late by letting them do a promise to pay agreement versus sending them to eviction. They did sign the 30-day Notice to Vacate as well as the Break Lease Agreement. Their $1200 fee was originally due on 3/13/2020 (mid-month) however *** requested additional time and stated she could have it paid in full by 3/20/2020. It was agreed upon that we would be able to accommodate them for that date of full payment. Our lease does not provide for an early termination. It requires residents to give a full 30-day notice to vacate prior to their lease expiration. It requires the lease holders to be fully responsible for the full terms of the lease. Our company has decided to have a Break Lease Agreement in order to work with residents who may be faced with hardships to not have damage to their rental and credit histories with owing the full terms of the lease agreement. The fee for this is $1200. In their case this would be a savings of several thousand dollars.