Can I break my lease?

[(former)FormerSanDiegan]

[quote=TexasLine][quote=sdrealtor]If you are month to month I’d stay. Moving is a hassle and is not cheap.[/quote]

I guess what I failed to convey is that the rent increase is causing me financial stress,…so to speak. So a move is probably inevitable.

And it would be nice to save some $ by moving towards the neighborhood/region that is my “Target” home buying area.

But again, I wonder about breaking the lease when I find the “house”, to buy.[/quote]

How much (percentage-wise) was the lease increased ?
If it is 10% or less and causes financial stress, then I would suggest that buying a property within 6 months should not be a major consideration for you.

In today’s rental market it is not that difficult to find 6-month leases. You may pay a little more for that flexibility, but it might be worth it. Even properties that are advertised for 12-month leases will many times consider 6-month.

[svelte]

[quote=CA renter]
You can always ask for a six-month (or month-to-month) lease, or you can agree to a 90-day notification period. There have been a number of ads for rentals that specifically request a month-to-month tenant. [/quote]

Not sure where “TexasLine’ is, but in north San Diego there are a number of apts that will rent to you month to month.

Times are tough, even ll who state they want a year lease will work with you if you say you want month to month….or offer them an extra $100/mo for mo-to-mo. Money talks.

Just helped a friend find an apt in north county…I know the above is true.

[svelte]

[quote=CA renter]
You can always ask for a six-month (or month-to-month) lease, or you can agree to a 90-day notification period. There have been a number of ads for rentals that specifically request a month-to-month tenant. [/quote]

Not sure where “TexasLine’ is, but in north San Diego there are a number of apts that will rent to you month to month.

Times are tough, even ll who state they want a year lease will work with you if you say you want month to month….or offer them an extra $100/mo for mo-to-mo. Money talks.

Just helped a friend find an apt in north county…I know the above is true.

[svelte]

[quote=CA renter]
You can always ask for a six-month (or month-to-month) lease, or you can agree to a 90-day notification period. There have been a number of ads for rentals that specifically request a month-to-month tenant. [/quote]

Not sure where “TexasLine’ is, but in north San Diego there are a number of apts that will rent to you month to month.

Times are tough, even ll who state they want a year lease will work with you if you say you want month to month….or offer them an extra $100/mo for mo-to-mo. Money talks.

Just helped a friend find an apt in north county…I know the above is true.

[svelte]

[quote=CA renter]
You can always ask for a six-month (or month-to-month) lease, or you can agree to a 90-day notification period. There have been a number of ads for rentals that specifically request a month-to-month tenant. [/quote]

Not sure where “TexasLine’ is, but in north San Diego there are a number of apts that will rent to you month to month.

Times are tough, even ll who state they want a year lease will work with you if you say you want month to month….or offer them an extra $100/mo for mo-to-mo. Money talks.

Just helped a friend find an apt in north county…I know the above is true.

[svelte]

[quote=CA renter]
You can always ask for a six-month (or month-to-month) lease, or you can agree to a 90-day notification period. There have been a number of ads for rentals that specifically request a month-to-month tenant. [/quote]

Not sure where “TexasLine’ is, but in north San Diego there are a number of apts that will rent to you month to month.

Times are tough, even ll who state they want a year lease will work with you if you say you want month to month….or offer them an extra $100/mo for mo-to-mo. Money talks.

Just helped a friend find an apt in north county…I know the above is true.

[briansd1]

How about writing back to the landlord and attaching comps to backup why there should not be a rent increase?

It’s worked for me and for my brother.

You should tell the landlord that you’re not happy. You need to be bold and speak up. You’re paying the bill so don’t worry about offending anyone.

If it’s not trouble to move… and you can find a nicer, newer, cleaner place, then, yeah, move and let the landlord deal with the vacancy for a while. That’ll teach her a lesson.

[briansd1]

How about writing back to the landlord and attaching comps to backup why there should not be a rent increase?

It’s worked for me and for my brother.

You should tell the landlord that you’re not happy. You need to be bold and speak up. You’re paying the bill so don’t worry about offending anyone.

If it’s not trouble to move… and you can find a nicer, newer, cleaner place, then, yeah, move and let the landlord deal with the vacancy for a while. That’ll teach her a lesson.

[briansd1]

How about writing back to the landlord and attaching comps to backup why there should not be a rent increase?

It’s worked for me and for my brother.

You should tell the landlord that you’re not happy. You need to be bold and speak up. You’re paying the bill so don’t worry about offending anyone.

If it’s not trouble to move… and you can find a nicer, newer, cleaner place, then, yeah, move and let the landlord deal with the vacancy for a while. That’ll teach her a lesson.

[briansd1]

How about writing back to the landlord and attaching comps to backup why there should not be a rent increase?

It’s worked for me and for my brother.

You should tell the landlord that you’re not happy. You need to be bold and speak up. You’re paying the bill so don’t worry about offending anyone.

If it’s not trouble to move… and you can find a nicer, newer, cleaner place, then, yeah, move and let the landlord deal with the vacancy for a while. That’ll teach her a lesson.

[briansd1]

How about writing back to the landlord and attaching comps to backup why there should not be a rent increase?

It’s worked for me and for my brother.

You should tell the landlord that you’re not happy. You need to be bold and speak up. You’re paying the bill so don’t worry about offending anyone.

If it’s not trouble to move… and you can find a nicer, newer, cleaner place, then, yeah, move and let the landlord deal with the vacancy for a while. That’ll teach her a lesson.

[ugsfugs]

My understanding is that if you break your lease, the landlord has a duty to re-rent the place/try to minimize his losses. As such, as long as he can get someone else in, you usually won’t have liability under the lease. I say usually because there are situations where you might owe, i.e. your rent was $x/month and the market will only bear $x-$200/month now. You’d owe the difference per month over the term of your lease. Hoping the landlord will find a replacement is harder to do “safely” in a down market because your unit might go empty for a few months and you would be on the hook for that time.

However, don’t think that you would be on the hook for the entire lease period just because you broke the lease. Didn’t you mention you’d be in a desirable area? This might be less of an issue for you then. Also, you can always advertise you place for rent and as long as the renter is suitable, the landlord will have a hard time turning the renter down. How is he fulfilling his duty to minimize his damages if he rejects a qualified renter? Be wary if he says anything about a lock-in/Cal civil 1951.4, but you still should be ok if you bring a new renter.

Also, a friend’s father always told people to not pay their last month’s rent and tell the landlord to take it out of the deposit. The deposit is for unpaid rent and damages, so this is not something hugely unusual to do. Some leases try to limit this though.

And of course as the others point out, you can mutually agree to anything you want with your landlord, either before you begin leasing or when you want to break the lease. I would just make sure to get it in writing.

[ugsfugs]

My understanding is that if you break your lease, the landlord has a duty to re-rent the place/try to minimize his losses. As such, as long as he can get someone else in, you usually won’t have liability under the lease. I say usually because there are situations where you might owe, i.e. your rent was $x/month and the market will only bear $x-$200/month now. You’d owe the difference per month over the term of your lease. Hoping the landlord will find a replacement is harder to do “safely” in a down market because your unit might go empty for a few months and you would be on the hook for that time.

However, don’t think that you would be on the hook for the entire lease period just because you broke the lease. Didn’t you mention you’d be in a desirable area? This might be less of an issue for you then. Also, you can always advertise you place for rent and as long as the renter is suitable, the landlord will have a hard time turning the renter down. How is he fulfilling his duty to minimize his damages if he rejects a qualified renter? Be wary if he says anything about a lock-in/Cal civil 1951.4, but you still should be ok if you bring a new renter.

Also, a friend’s father always told people to not pay their last month’s rent and tell the landlord to take it out of the deposit. The deposit is for unpaid rent and damages, so this is not something hugely unusual to do. Some leases try to limit this though.

And of course as the others point out, you can mutually agree to anything you want with your landlord, either before you begin leasing or when you want to break the lease. I would just make sure to get it in writing.

[ugsfugs]

My understanding is that if you break your lease, the landlord has a duty to re-rent the place/try to minimize his losses. As such, as long as he can get someone else in, you usually won’t have liability under the lease. I say usually because there are situations where you might owe, i.e. your rent was $x/month and the market will only bear $x-$200/month now. You’d owe the difference per month over the term of your lease. Hoping the landlord will find a replacement is harder to do “safely” in a down market because your unit might go empty for a few months and you would be on the hook for that time.

However, don’t think that you would be on the hook for the entire lease period just because you broke the lease. Didn’t you mention you’d be in a desirable area? This might be less of an issue for you then. Also, you can always advertise you place for rent and as long as the renter is suitable, the landlord will have a hard time turning the renter down. How is he fulfilling his duty to minimize his damages if he rejects a qualified renter? Be wary if he says anything about a lock-in/Cal civil 1951.4, but you still should be ok if you bring a new renter.

Also, a friend’s father always told people to not pay their last month’s rent and tell the landlord to take it out of the deposit. The deposit is for unpaid rent and damages, so this is not something hugely unusual to do. Some leases try to limit this though.

And of course as the others point out, you can mutually agree to anything you want with your landlord, either before you begin leasing or when you want to break the lease. I would just make sure to get it in writing.

[ugsfugs]

My understanding is that if you break your lease, the landlord has a duty to re-rent the place/try to minimize his losses. As such, as long as he can get someone else in, you usually won’t have liability under the lease. I say usually because there are situations where you might owe, i.e. your rent was $x/month and the market will only bear $x-$200/month now. You’d owe the difference per month over the term of your lease. Hoping the landlord will find a replacement is harder to do “safely” in a down market because your unit might go empty for a few months and you would be on the hook for that time.

However, don’t think that you would be on the hook for the entire lease period just because you broke the lease. Didn’t you mention you’d be in a desirable area? This might be less of an issue for you then. Also, you can always advertise you place for rent and as long as the renter is suitable, the landlord will have a hard time turning the renter down. How is he fulfilling his duty to minimize his damages if he rejects a qualified renter? Be wary if he says anything about a lock-in/Cal civil 1951.4, but you still should be ok if you bring a new renter.

Also, a friend’s father always told people to not pay their last month’s rent and tell the landlord to take it out of the deposit. The deposit is for unpaid rent and damages, so this is not something hugely unusual to do. Some leases try to limit this though.

And of course as the others point out, you can mutually agree to anything you want with your landlord, either before you begin leasing or when you want to break the lease. I would just make sure to get it in writing.

[Author]

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