The eviction process is a huge pain in the ass from a landlords perspective as is having an empty apartment collecting no money. Because of that, most will work something out with you as long as you talk to them. Their ideal situation is to have someone move out, they clean/fix it in a weekend and they rent it to a new tenant. It's a win-win to line everything up
I don't believe in belts. There should be no ranking system for toughness.