due to a multitude of circumstances, i have fallen about 4 months behind on my rent. i am not on a 6-12 month lease, my lapsed lease says that it defaults into a month to month agreement after that period. i have been on that default month to month since july 2010.

my room mates have all gone and left me to pay the remaining balance. in order to do this, i need to move. i plan to move out of state to live with some family and continue working while i get myself back on my feet, as well as pay off this debt to my landlady.

she has not asked for the rent yet, nor has she served papers. i have not spoken to her at all. i have started moving everything out of the house. i am hoping to go discuss the situation with her after everything is gone, so that she will be able to rent it out again. before i move, i will be able to pay her a small lump of what i owe to her.

is it legal for me to move out of state and pay her back from there? is it at my landladys discretion? is there a proper way to create some sort of contract that says i agree to pay her the full amount?

i have no credit, nothing to sell. if i stay here in the city, i will end up on the street and have trouble keeping my job. in addition, the landlord did absolutely no upkeep while we were living here. i spoke to her in person months ago about the issues with the house, and they remain unchanged. obviously this is due to bad communication on both our parts, but can i get burned with fees for damages that already existed because i didn't make a physical letter of the issues to give to her?