A man who’s fashioned himself as a wide-ranging expert on a number of topics is taking on leases, claiming there are two ways you can get out of a lease without repercussions. He says one of them is ethical. The other, not so much.
The advice comes in TikTok form from creator Cheese (@thankucheese), getting more than 31,800 views since going up on Feb. 18. In it, he asks, “Tired of paying rent at your apartment complex?” He then says he has two means of getting out of a lease before it runs out, claiming that it can be done without a hit to your credit score.
The first involves subleasing. “You need to go to your leasing office and ask them if they allow subleasing,” he says. “If they say yes, you’re gonna go ahead and post an ad on Facebook Marketplace saying, ‘Hey, I’m willing to sublet my apartment. Please let me know; send me offers,’ and give them the same exact rate that you have, just so you can easily get that place gone.”
Cheese claims once you find someone to take over the lease, it’s just a matter of getting that person to the leasing office to sign paperwork.
He says there’s also a second way to go about it. He warns, “This is extremely unethical, and it’s also like maybe borderline illegal,” before sharing the method. “You will have to get military orders saying that you are going overseas so they can break the lease without any penalties,” he says.
@thankucheese #greenscreen This is how you can get out of any lease. #howto #smart #apartment #hustle #break #moveout #movein #sublet #sublease #rental #property #military #orders #leasing #fyp #fy #viral #trending ♬ Beautiful Things – Benson Boone
There may be other ways to do it that Cheese doesn’t mention. It depends on what’s in your lease as well as state and local laws.
According to John Egan, writing for Experian, “Although you can break a lease early, not every reason for doing so is legally protected. And no matter why you break a lease, you could be on the hook for paying the rent until the landlord finds a new tenant or the lease expires. After all, breaking a lease early means you’re prematurely ending a legally binding contract.”
Scenarios he mentions include being “the recent victim of sexual abuse or stalking,” “a neighbor is arrested after threatening you with a deadly weapon, but the landlord fails to evict them,” or “the property has become plagued by crime, such as gang or drug activity.”
There are also a couple of scenarios that involve the landlord not holding up their end of the lease agreement, such as “the landlord hasn’t made a repair—typically related to health and safety—within a certain period of time,” like a broken security gate or faulty electrical outlet, or “the landlord fails to install, inspect or fix a smoke alarm.”
One commenter advised, “Just get a restraining order on someone they have to let u out of ur lease if u do.” Some state laws do allow for this, and for people in public or subsidized housing, the Violence Against Women Act provides federal provisions for these kinds of situations.
Another commenter noted, “Thought for sure you were going to say if you die they will let you break the lease.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Cheese via Instagram direct message.