How can You Break Your Lease Without Penalty?

When you lease an apartment or other property unit, you may be required to sign the lease agreement. It is a legal contract between the landlord and you as the renter. The agreement will outline some main terms of the lease, including the lease end date and also the early termination clause.

When signing this lease agreement, you are expected to have a good intention to stay in the property until the end of the rental term directed by it.

However, in some cases, you may need to break the lease. There are a lot of reasons why you want to move out sooner than the expected end date and you are going to face some undesirable consequences, for example paying for the penalty.

You need to prepare everything properly before you can move out from the property and break the lease due to any reasons.

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Tips Break the Lease without Penalty

Break the Lease agreement

Check the lease agreement

This is the first thing that you have to do before moving out from the property. You need to know your rights in the contract. Most rental agreements will outline some valid procedures and reasons for breaking the lease in another separate clause.

Some contracts may allow you to get out from the property under some special circumstances and also life-changing events, such as divorce, death of the significant other, force majeure, etc.

This lease agreement will also contain some information about the penalty that you are going to pay when you want to move out from the property earlier.

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Understand all consequences of the early termination

You also need to understand all consequences that you are going to have, especially when you have an early termination of your contract.  Some potential risks include a lawsuit, lowered credit score, and also difficulty in renting other properties.

When you break the lease contract and stop paying the rental cost, the landlord may decide to take legal action against you as the renter. When the judge rules against you, you are responsible to pay out your debt. This situation will make your life get difficult in the future.

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Find the legal reason for breaking a lease

This is another important step that you have to do, especially when you want to break a lease without paying the penalty. There are several cases of early termination that may be written on your contract. You should read the lease agreement closely for finding out some of these details. 

Some of these special cases will allow you to get out of the lease without any penalty, for example, military service, violation of tenant’s property right, construction eviction, inability to maintain habitable housing, noncompliance with the health and safety codes, etc.

If you can find any legal reasons for breaking a lease, you will be able to move out from the property without having to pay the penalty.

If you cannot break your lease legally, you can get out of the lease with minimal losses

You can start negotiating your situation with the landlord. You can offer the security deposit as your compensation. It will bring benefits for you and the landlord because he/she can use the money for taking care of any painting or repair projects after you leave the property. You can also consider subletting the unit. 

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However, you should check the lease agreement for ensuring that you are allowed to sublet your unit before the contract period ends. You will be the one who is responsible for collecting rent payments from the new renter. Then, you can deliver the payment to the landlord every month. 

There are many other interesting things that you can do, so you can break a lease without an expensive penalty. However, every case will be different and unique. Therefore, you have to check the lease agreement and discuss your situation with your landlord.

Most landlords will be ready to negotiate your situation and find the right solution for you. If you are in a difficult situation, they may be able to make an exception for your case.