RENTING - Breaking your Lease

Tu Casa

By Nathalia N. Cruz-Edmonds

Did you notice the leaves are starting to change color or that the temperature started dropping at night?  You must have notice that Starbucks brought back their Pumpkin Spice Latte.  Yes, Fall is upon us.  Our life also comes with changes, some expected and others unexpected.  But that is not the same when you sign a lease agreement for the home where you are currently living in.  The lease agreement is an enforceable piece of paper, with conditions written in black or white.  It’s a business transaction, no emotion or feelings involved.  The lease agreement does not care if you get sick, get divorced, lose your job, have a baby or get married.  The lease agreement doesn’t care, because it’s a piece of paper.

This piece of paper is very valuable and very costly, to you it will depend on which side you are in the transaction.  That is why you MUST read the lease agreement before you get keys to your new home.  No one can make you sign a lease agreement if you do not feel at ease.  Your landlord cannot deny you of getting a copy of the lease agreement for you to read at home or with your lawyer.  A judge can rule in favor of the Landlord once you get keys, but you must be prepared because the lease agreement is a legal binding document and whether or not you got keys, you made an agreement in writing that is signed, to move to a home in exchange of paying the landlord a certain amount of money.  Ignorance is very expensive.

One clause on the lease agreement that in my nine years experience working in residential property management residents seem to forget until it is necessary is when they need to break their lease.  The resident got a new job at a different city or state, or the resident got transferred or the roommate moved out and you cannot afford the rent on your own or a family member got sick and you want to move with them to help them out.  Unless you are a clairvoyant, you had no clue what the future was going to bring you.  If you knew what was going to happen you would have stayed where you were or a great new opportunity came your way and you must take it.  The lease agreement does not cover these situations.

If your landlord takes you to court for breaking your lease, the state of Maryland will hold the resident responsible for the loss of rental income.  If the lease agreement does not have a specific monetary amount of the cost of breaking the lease, the judge can hold you responsible for the remainder of the lease agreement.  For example, if your lease ends on December 31st but you moved out October 1st, you will be responsible for October, November and December’s rent.  The judge can actually add the cost of doing marketing to reimburse the landlord the expense of re-renting the home you just vacated.  The only good news is, if you know the landlord was able to re-rent the property, your responsibility will end when the other person moved in.  So, you gave keys on October 1st and the new resident moved in on November 1st,  you are responsible for just October and any marketing cost.  Remember, this is only ONE scenario, you MUST read your lease agreement.

In other cases the lease agreement can say, you must provide two months notice and will be responsible for an additional monetary penalty of two months rent.  The only way this will be enforceable is if you sign an agreement that your understand you have to give two months notice and you will pay two months penalty.  If you do not sign this document and the landlord re-rents the home you are not responsible to pay the penalty.  Some leases do not have a clause.

One important thing, in the state of Maryland a military personnel who has received orders for a permanent change of station or temporary duty for more than three months are allowed to break their lease with proper notice.  Read the lease agreement to see if there are any monetary penalties involved.

This article does not serve as legal advice.  If you have any questions, have a lawyer read your lease agreement.  Every lease agreement is different but at the end of the day, if you get keys to a home that is the moment the clock starts and it will end as per the the lease agreement end date.  Make sure to read how much notice you need to give your landlord if you do not wish to renew your lease agreement because some leases have automatic renews!

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Nathalia N. Cruz-Edmonds is a REALTOR with Berkshire Hathaway HomeService PenFed Realty.  To schedule a meeting call (410) 350-5848, at her office (410) 464-5500 or via email at nathalia.edmonds@penfedrealty.com.  You can follow her on Facebook at http://facebook.com/NathaliaEdmondsRealtor.