How to terminate the rental agreement without penalty

When signing a rental agreement, most clients really want to live in this apartment until the end of the term specified in the documents, but sometimes life gives surprises and there is a need to move to the end of the lease term. Very often, a tenancy agreement imposes considerable penalties in the event of early termination or the need to pay the rest of the rental amount.

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Edition Trulia Gathered a few tips on how to prematurely terminate the rental agreement without consequences.

1. Talk to the landlord

If you want to terminate your lease agreement ahead of time, notify the landlord immediately, regardless of the reason. He can go forward and not apply penalties to you. If the rental market in your area is at its peak, then the landlord can quickly find a new tenant who is willing to pay a higher rent.

If your lease ends in the winter (a bad period for finding new tenants), and you ask your landlord to move out earlier in the spring or summer, he may allow you to do so without penalty, since it is much easier to find new tenants at this time of year.

Even if your landlord is not thrilled that you move out earlier than the agreed time, the best option would be to tell him about your plans as soon as you know about it, even if you intend to terminate the lease agreement in a few weeks. This will give the landlord time to find a new tenant to minimize any loss of income.

2. Suggest to find a replacement

Many homeowners prefer to check the solvency of potential tenants through their credit rating or other means, so simply transfer your apartment to the first comer without the approval of the landlord will not work. But, planning to terminate the lease agreement ahead of time, you should inform the landlord that you have another tenant in mind or that you do not mind looking for him, and after that the landlord can conduct a standard check of the candidate.

Please note that regardless of whether you will find a tenant to replace you or the landlord does, as soon as a new person enters the apartment, you are exempt from the obligation to pay the rent. Landlords can not receive double payment for rental housing, even if the previous tenant moved out before the expiration of the contract.

3. Consider a compromise

If the contract provides for penalties for the early termination of the rental contract, then whatever your reasons, the court will side with the landlord. Therefore, it is better not to bring the matter to this and try to agree on a reasonable compromise that will suit both parties.

Of course, this can be done only if you from the very beginning cultivated good relations with your landlord, paying rent in time, notifying him as soon as possible about problems with the apartment, taking care of his property in the apartment and being open to communication.

In this case, if you need to prematurely terminate the lease, you can agree on reducing or avoiding penalties, but in every way help with finding a new tenant and be open to showing the apartment to potential future tenants.

4. Play hard

If your landlord did not cooperate with you or was unable to find a suitable tenant for your replacement, if you terminate the contract early, you may be faced with the need to pay the rent until the end of the lease term provided for in the documents. In this case, you can try to apply tough measures.

Regardless of what is written in the rental agreement, you are protected by federal law on the guarantee of habitability of residence. By law, your apartment must be “habitable”, that is, without fungus or insects, there must also be hot and cold water, heating, etc. If your landlord has not complied with these requirements or any rules of local housing laws, inform the appropriate authorities, which are likely to allow you to terminate the lease agreement ahead of time.

5. Read the lease carefully

If other options do not work, re-read the lease. Most likely, there is a clause on early termination of the contract, implying a small penalty, instead of having to pay the entire balance of the rent.

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