When is it Justified to Break a Lease?

By Robert Griswold

Question: My son has been leasing a house for more than three years. He's on his second contract, which will be up next June. My son has recently asked to break his lease, the reason being that his wife shot herself to death in that house and he cannot bear to live there. He tries to stay with relatives when he can. The landlord says that is not a good enough reason to let him break the lease. The landlord wants my son and me (I co-signed for him) to sign another lease agreement that says we are responsible. We are even willing to find tenants for this landlord. Are we asking too much?

Tenants' attorney Kellman replies:

It is amazing how some landlords just forget to be human beings. The tragedy of the suicide should be plenty enough for sympathy, compassion and the speedy resolution of this lease issue. Sadly, with this landlord, it is not. Under law, the death of a tenant may certainly cancel that tenant's lease unless the lease provides otherwise (i.e. language making the lease binding to heirs and successors, etc.). In this lease there were co-tenants who all signed it besides the deceased individual. In signing the lease, the co-tenants all relied on each other as security to pay the rent. Also, the lease was between the two parties, the co-signer and the landlord, and that each party agreed on that to be the case.

Now one party has been removed from the lease by an unforeseen act, which changes the original arrangement of parties. You can take the position that this situation affords a manner to cancel the lease. Even if the death could be ruled not to be a cause to terminate the balance of the lease, in most cases if you are replaced by tenants who pay the rent for the balance of the lease term, there can be very little to claim against you. As always, seek the advice of an attorney before breaking any lease.

Question: I recently rented a house that was advertised as a five-bedroom house. After I signed a year lease, I was told that the house has four bedrooms and a bonus room, which is being used as the master bedroom. When I moved in, I realized that the bonus room, which has closets, and an attached bathroom, is open to the living room. When we originally viewed the house, this area, which is on the second floor, was closed off with ceiling-to-floor blinds, and it just looked like a regular room to me. The landlady now says that she will enclose the space; however, she expects the job to take about eight to 10 days. I am uncomfortable with this, as we need that room to live in, and I have two small babies in the house, and don't want to be living with construction. Can I break this lease without penalty?

Tenants' attorney Kellman replies:

There are several ways to break a residential lease. One of the grounds is if you were induced to enter into the contract based on a significant misrepresentation as to the rental unit. In your case, it is clear that you were the victim of misrepresentation and that the house was indeed very different than as presented due to the intentional concealment of the true character of the house. The landlord advertised a five-bedroom house when it actually has only four bedrooms. Further, the true character and nature of the house were intentionally concealed from you. Based on your situation, it seems reasonable that you can declare the contract rescinded (i.e. broken) without a penalty. In fact, you may even make a claim for damages suffered by the misrepresentation. You will need to document that position correctly and return possession of the house to the landlord as soon as possible.

There are other ways to break leases besides the method and grounds discussed above. Before declaring any lease broken, you should seek legal advice since if you do not properly protect your rights with breaking leases, you may be held liable for the rent for the balance of the lease term.

Question: We have been tenants for the past nine years and have two young children. About a year ago there was an incident with a leashed dog that broke away from its owner and attacked my child. Management did nothing. After a hearing, our local animal control authorities designated the dog as a threat. The tenant still lives at the property and his dog is required to be muzzled.

Now a new tenant has moved into this same building and (guess what?) he has a vicious-looking dog. We have called management to let them know of our concerns. They told us that they have required a larger security deposit and monthly fee for the additional dog because of our intervention. However, that doesn't help us, as we are still very concerned about our children's safety. We would like to find a new apartment, but unfortunately our lease will not expire for several more months. Because of the safety issues as outlined above, what are my rights to terminate my lease before it expires?

Property Manager Griswold replies:

While you may have a solid argument for vacating the property based on the landlord's actions, I would strongly advise that you contact a tenant's rights attorney before taking any steps to unilaterally terminate your tenancy. If you simply leave without formally notifying the landlord, you undoubtedly will be on the defensive to prove that your grounds were legitimate. Don't assume that you have established that your reasons for terminating the lease will be accepted by the court, should your landlord seek to collect on the balance of the lease. Better to take the offensive and possibly get the landlord to agree to voluntarily terminate the short remaining term of your lease.

While you had a very specific and unfortunate event with the prior dog, you are probably not the only tenant that is concerned about another similar dog now on the property. I would suggest that you speak with your neighbors and ask them to support you in putting pressure on the management to have these potentially dangerous dogs removed from the property. You should also contact animal control for their suggestions or possibly have them come out and investigate. Ultimately, if you choose to vacate the property prior to the expiration of your lease, the more documentation that you had legitimate concerns for your safety will be important to support your actions.

Copyright 2006 Inman News.