Breaking lease questions

[AustinOregon]

Location: Oregon

If I'm breaking my lease as part of my chapter 7 bankruptcy. Does it cover all of the lease break fees?

If I break my lease before the end of the month that I have paid for are they required to give me a pro-rated return on that months rent?

Do I need to give a 30 days notice?

[justbroke]

In a Chapter 7, a debtor may assume or reject an unexpired lease. Assume means to keep and reject has it's literal meaning. When rejected the lease is considered breached the day before filing. Any lease fees may be considered "unsecured" debt and would be dischargeable. I would list the landlord as an unsecured creditor and on Schedule G with your intent to reject the lease.

Whether you are entitled to any pro-rated refund of prepaid rent is a legal question that I can't answer. It likely has a different answer based on which city, county, and state where you reside. In some cases, if you can't exempt any prepaid rent to which you're entitled, the prepaid rent could become property of the bankruptcy estate.

If you are filing bankruptcy, why would notice matter? The thing you should be careful about is an eviction. An eviction on your record could lead to the inability to lease professionally-managed properties in the near term.

[AustinOregon]

Hello again justbroke. I really appreciate your help!

I have yet to break the lease and my 341 meeting is April 16th. Do I need to break the lease and amend form B106E/F and add them as an unsecured creditor?

So far I have listed them on form G and checked my intent to reject the lease but have not listed them on E/F as an unsecured creditor.

Is there any way to break the lease after the meeting? I just payed rent for all of April and was planning on breaking the least the end of the month most likely.

[justbroke]

You likely need to seek help from the bankruptcy court to see if they can connect you with a low- or no-fee attorney. There may be a specific process for not only rejecting the lease, but also breaking and terminating the lease. I cannot assume what the landlord will do since they probably already have notice of your bankruptcy (likely filed around March 15, 2025). I cannot tell you if actually breaking the lease after you filed a post-petition action.

Too many moving parts and you need to have someone to give more insight into the issue than I can provide.

I rejected a residential lease in my Chapter 7, but I immediately moved out upon filing (literally within 2 weeks). My leased home was not managed by a professional management company.