Help me PLEASE!!!!!!

[Connie Davis]

ok i know this is not the avenue for this post but i need some advice. hoping someone has some insight for me. so i found a home on the 22nd and paid my deposit and 1st month rent and signed the lease.the lease says that i can not be refunded for any money given in the even that i can not move in. the same night i signed the lease my mother died. she lives in seattle and i have no more money left. i told the guy that i cant move in as now i have to go to seattle and say goodbye to my mom etc. he text me and said he understood and that unfortunately he can only give me back my first months rent. i asked him if i found him a new renter to replace me would i get my deposit back he said that they would have to sign the lease and pay by march 1st. I found someone, and they said they wanted the home. i text back and forth with the owner and he asked me what bank i have so he can deposit my money and i told him i bank out of state. he never replied. i sent him two more texts over the course of the rest of the day and nothing.my husband called him and he kept sayin the lease says its not refundable but he will give me my money back because he feels bad for me. my husband said why cant you just give it to her right this second...he says the banks are closed (they were it was 9pm) and i cant pull that much money out of the atm ($2,000) so he said i will call you tomorrow to meet up. he called my husband back 20 mins later saying do you have paypal , i can send it through there....HELL NO... (didnt say that just said no lol) he said fine we can just meet up tomorrow. mind you i need the money for a plane ticket to go to my moms funeral. her wake was today and the funeral is tommorrow. i reached out to the girl that i referred and she said she signed the lease and paid her $2000 deposit YESTERDAY. so all day i have been calling and texting and no response from the owner. finally i get this text:

After much consideration and with my deepest regrets, I cannot refund you any of the money. I have read through the contract over and over, and there is not way out of it. It clearly states that if the contract is broken the first months rent and deposit will be kept. Truly, my deepest sympathies go out to you and your family and I wish I could do it, but unfortunately, this is a business endeavor for me and I have to do what is legally in the contract. I hope you understand, and again, I am sorry for your loss.

YEA. LOL TALK ABOUT ME HAVING A BREAK DOWN. Side note: the owner is an active duty staff sergeant in the Marine Corps

[Matt W.]

From Nolo.com and if your rental is in North Carolina:

"If you don’t have a legal justification to break your lease, the good news is that you may still be off the hook for paying all the rent due for the remaining lease term. This is because under North Carolina law (Isbey v. Crews, 284 S.E.2d 534 (N.C. Ct. App. 1981)), your landlord must make reasonable efforts to re-rent your unit—no matter what your reason for leaving—rather than charge you for the total remaining rent due under the lease. So you may not have to pay much, if any additional rent, if you break your lease. You need pay only the amount of rent the landlord loses because you moved out early. This is because North Carolina requires landlords to take reasonable steps to keep their losses to a minimum—or to “mitigate damages” in legal terms."

You need to get a copy of the new lease that was signed by the new tenant. If the new lease terms were the same as the lease you broke, I don't see how the owner can claim any damages were suffered. The lease agreement cannot supersede NC state law, so the owner's argument that "it's in the lease" is flawed. If you cannot get relief there is always small claims court, but make sure you have all your paperwork in order.
-Matt