Can I break my lease?

[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.

[sreeb]

Ask your new landlord to put in a cancellation clause with a months penalty if you cancel the lease within a year.

I have negotiated this a couple of times back when I was working as a consultant and needed to rent a place for an unknown period of time.

The landlords biggest concern is that you will stay and not pay. Not that you may leave early.

This assumes you are renting in a normal residential neighborhood and not somewhere like the beach where there are big swings in rental value depending on the season.

[sreeb]

Ask your new landlord to put in a cancellation clause with a months penalty if you cancel the lease within a year.

I have negotiated this a couple of times back when I was working as a consultant and needed to rent a place for an unknown period of time.

The landlords biggest concern is that you will stay and not pay. Not that you may leave early.

This assumes you are renting in a normal residential neighborhood and not somewhere like the beach where there are big swings in rental value depending on the season.

[sreeb]

Ask your new landlord to put in a cancellation clause with a months penalty if you cancel the lease within a year.

I have negotiated this a couple of times back when I was working as a consultant and needed to rent a place for an unknown period of time.

The landlords biggest concern is that you will stay and not pay. Not that you may leave early.

This assumes you are renting in a normal residential neighborhood and not somewhere like the beach where there are big swings in rental value depending on the season.

[sreeb]

Ask your new landlord to put in a cancellation clause with a months penalty if you cancel the lease within a year.

I have negotiated this a couple of times back when I was working as a consultant and needed to rent a place for an unknown period of time.

The landlords biggest concern is that you will stay and not pay. Not that you may leave early.

This assumes you are renting in a normal residential neighborhood and not somewhere like the beach where there are big swings in rental value depending on the season.

[sreeb]

Ask your new landlord to put in a cancellation clause with a months penalty if you cancel the lease within a year.

I have negotiated this a couple of times back when I was working as a consultant and needed to rent a place for an unknown period of time.

The landlords biggest concern is that you will stay and not pay. Not that you may leave early.

This assumes you are renting in a normal residential neighborhood and not somewhere like the beach where there are big swings in rental value depending on the season.

[EconProf]

How does your raised rent compare with comparable rents for your neighborhood? In other words, is the proposed rent above or below the fair market rent for your unit? Do some research.
You say you’ve been there 5 years. Is that without a rent increase? If so, maybe you are due for one. Again, look at rent comps. (Your landlord probably did).
Above all, don’t move out of spite…you could be hurting yourself as well as your landlord.
I once heard of a tenant who had lived in an Ocean Beach house for 6 years paying the same rent to a Mom and Pop owner. The owners raised the rent by about 10% so the tenant said screw you, and moved. Turns out the rent would have to double to meet the market, which the owners promptly did once the angry tenant left.

[EconProf]

How does your raised rent compare with comparable rents for your neighborhood? In other words, is the proposed rent above or below the fair market rent for your unit? Do some research.
You say you’ve been there 5 years. Is that without a rent increase? If so, maybe you are due for one. Again, look at rent comps. (Your landlord probably did).
Above all, don’t move out of spite…you could be hurting yourself as well as your landlord.
I once heard of a tenant who had lived in an Ocean Beach house for 6 years paying the same rent to a Mom and Pop owner. The owners raised the rent by about 10% so the tenant said screw you, and moved. Turns out the rent would have to double to meet the market, which the owners promptly did once the angry tenant left.

[EconProf]

How does your raised rent compare with comparable rents for your neighborhood? In other words, is the proposed rent above or below the fair market rent for your unit? Do some research.
You say you’ve been there 5 years. Is that without a rent increase? If so, maybe you are due for one. Again, look at rent comps. (Your landlord probably did).
Above all, don’t move out of spite…you could be hurting yourself as well as your landlord.
I once heard of a tenant who had lived in an Ocean Beach house for 6 years paying the same rent to a Mom and Pop owner. The owners raised the rent by about 10% so the tenant said screw you, and moved. Turns out the rent would have to double to meet the market, which the owners promptly did once the angry tenant left.

[EconProf]

How does your raised rent compare with comparable rents for your neighborhood? In other words, is the proposed rent above or below the fair market rent for your unit? Do some research.
You say you’ve been there 5 years. Is that without a rent increase? If so, maybe you are due for one. Again, look at rent comps. (Your landlord probably did).
Above all, don’t move out of spite…you could be hurting yourself as well as your landlord.
I once heard of a tenant who had lived in an Ocean Beach house for 6 years paying the same rent to a Mom and Pop owner. The owners raised the rent by about 10% so the tenant said screw you, and moved. Turns out the rent would have to double to meet the market, which the owners promptly did once the angry tenant left.

[EconProf]

How does your raised rent compare with comparable rents for your neighborhood? In other words, is the proposed rent above or below the fair market rent for your unit? Do some research.
You say you’ve been there 5 years. Is that without a rent increase? If so, maybe you are due for one. Again, look at rent comps. (Your landlord probably did).
Above all, don’t move out of spite…you could be hurting yourself as well as your landlord.
I once heard of a tenant who had lived in an Ocean Beach house for 6 years paying the same rent to a Mom and Pop owner. The owners raised the rent by about 10% so the tenant said screw you, and moved. Turns out the rent would have to double to meet the market, which the owners promptly did once the angry tenant left.

[Effective Demand]

I have clauses in my lease for breaking it at my discretion by paying a fee. Basically I told them that I would like to rent and plan on staying the whole term but don’t want the legal liability of the longer term lease in case “life happens”. So I told them lets put a box around it and put a number on it and got it done.

I’ve got great credit and impeccable references so I have more negotiating power than say someone who has poor or no credit.

[Effective Demand]

I have clauses in my lease for breaking it at my discretion by paying a fee. Basically I told them that I would like to rent and plan on staying the whole term but don’t want the legal liability of the longer term lease in case “life happens”. So I told them lets put a box around it and put a number on it and got it done.

I’ve got great credit and impeccable references so I have more negotiating power than say someone who has poor or no credit.

[Effective Demand]

I have clauses in my lease for breaking it at my discretion by paying a fee. Basically I told them that I would like to rent and plan on staying the whole term but don’t want the legal liability of the longer term lease in case “life happens”. So I told them lets put a box around it and put a number on it and got it done.

I’ve got great credit and impeccable references so I have more negotiating power than say someone who has poor or no credit.

[Effective Demand]

I have clauses in my lease for breaking it at my discretion by paying a fee. Basically I told them that I would like to rent and plan on staying the whole term but don’t want the legal liability of the longer term lease in case “life happens”. So I told them lets put a box around it and put a number on it and got it done.

I’ve got great credit and impeccable references so I have more negotiating power than say someone who has poor or no credit.

[Author]

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