Few Excuses for Leaving a Lease Early

By Robert Griswold

Question: My wife and I signed a year lease about nine months ago. We have decided to buy a home, and we close on this home at the end of next month, but our lease isn't up for four more months. I have informed my landlord of our situation and he still states that we are responsible for the remainder of the lease. I cannot afford a mortgage and rent for four months. What are my options here?

Property manager Griswold replies:

This is a question you should have asked before making the commitment to buy a new home. At this point, you don't really have any options if the landlord is not willing to voluntarily let you out of your lease. You signed a legally binding contract with your landlord, and now you have signed a legally binding contract to buy a home. It is not the landlord's problem (or the home seller's, either) that you decided to buy a home and can't afford the rent and a mortgage payment. You should have thought of that and not signed the lease last year, or waited on the new home for a couple of months, or made the purchase contingent on closing at the end of your lease. You could have even explained the situation to the new seller, and he/she may have been willing to assist you with a credit in escrow or some other concession that might help with the financial burden. But it's tough to get anyone to help you at this point, as you are legally obligated and your landlord and the home seller have no reason to come to your rescue.

If you do vacate and move into the new home, the landlord is required to mitigate your damages and make a reasonable effort to re-lease the rental, but that is no guarantee that he will find someone within the four months left on your lease. I suggest you do your very best to leave the rental in rent-ready condition and try to assist the landlord by offering to allow prospective tenants to view the property while you still live there. You can also try to locate a new qualified tenant yourself by spreading the word to everyone you know and putting up signs or placing ads. Remember that they have to meet the landlord's usual tenant screening criteria. This may work, but the only sure thing is to be prepared to pay for both the rental and the new home for the four months.

Copyright 2006 Inman News.