June 12, 2009, Newsletter Issue #136: Options for Your Rental Home If You Can’t Fulfill Your Lease Agreement

Tip of the Week

If one cannot fulfill the complete terms of one’s lease agreement in a rental home, a few options, responsibilities, and courses of action are available. First, the situation depends on whether you’re a landlord or a tenant.

Landlords who discover that they must sell their property quickly or encounter other circumstances that might prevent them from fulfilling all lease terms should consider the following. Are there other steps you could take to complete your agreement in the short term? Are you able to negotiate with your tenants to reach amended terms that help you both? Are you in a position to make an offer of money or other accommodations to your tenants?

As a tenant with a lease, you also may have a few options in certain circumstances. The widely used term “breaking a lease” has a negative connotation with good reason. Both landlord and tenant have the responsibility to adhere to a lease agreement in full. Not selectively. Tenants who get a reputation as "lease breakers" may find increasing difficulty in finding homes for rent and landlords that will accept them if their tendencies become public knowledge. If you are forced to move before the end of your lease term, give your landlord the most notice you can. With a responsibility to attempt to re-rent the property, your landlord can make an honest effort to do so. Should your lease have a “right to sub-lease” provision, you can seek a tenant currently looking for apartments or townhouses for rent. You could offer then a sub-lease for the remaining term of your lease.

If your current rental agreement does not provide for a sub-lease, talk with your landlord to see if he/she is agreeable to sign a document that allows you to do so. In most cases, you’ll still be the person responsible for the cost of your rental home, but sub-letting your residence can work.

Simple communication can be an important component to working out problems in lease completion for both parties. Often, tenants and landlords can come to agreements to work out these issues to the benefit of both parties.

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