If a landlord wants to end a lease early, can you then leave earlier and not pay rent after that date?

Question

Our landlord has sent us a letter giving us two months notice to leave, which means we have to get out of the house on September 10th, 10 days before our lease is actually up. However there's a house just up the road we can move into in a couple of weeks, but we don't want to have to pay rent on two properties (they won't hold the new propery until September for us). My question is, if the landlord has sent you notice that they want to terminate your lease early, are you entitled to leave the house before the expiry of the two month notice period and not pay rent after the date you leave, or are you still liable until the end of the landlord's notice period? In essence, as they've now changed the terms of our lease, can we change them too?

BTW, We're being asked to leave as the landlord wants to move into the property before the University term starts, not because we've done anything wrong.

Answer 1

hi there, your case is of legal aspect but i am not a lawyer but with some personal experiences on legal aspects.

from your statements, i have to make some assumptions because they were not explicitly stated nor very clear to me.
assumptions:
- you have an existing contract of lease duly signed by you and your landlord with a pre-determined length or tenor
- you paid a 2-month deposit to your landlord (i.e. basing on
the 2-month notice from your landlord)

my opinion:
if you don't have a documented contract between you and your landlord then it is difficult to come up with a settlement if you don't have a witness when you verbally agreed on the terms and conditions.

if you have the written contract, then you and your landlord are binded to that contract. anyone breaks the terms and conditions stipulated in the contract is at fault. this could be your basis if you will file for a civil case.

if there is a stipulation in the contract that the landlord has the right to terminate the lease earlier than the stipulated tenor, then you don't have the legal ground but to leave. if there is no stipulation then both of you are still binded to the agreed tenor in the contract.

if it is stipulated that your landlord has the right to keep the deposit when you will not serve the full tenor, then you have no legal ground to collect back the deposit. if it is only 10 days to the maturity of the lease and if you have paid the deposit, in my own opinion, your landlord is interested to default your deposit.

if you plan not to pay the remaining rent and leave the premise before the tenor then it is your own perugative but you will have to default your deposit to your landlord. deposit is also to protect landlords of any damages to the property aside from natural wear and tear.

my suggestions:
read back the contract carefully the terms and conditions stipulated in the lease contract. look of exit clauses in the stipulation in favor of the landlord. look for clauses where you
have a good legal ground to support your case why you have to
stay till the maturity of the lease.

i suggest to talk to your landlord amicably and understand why he
is urging you to leave 10 days before the tenor. if you can settle it amicably, then it is always the best case. after all, you must have built a relationship with your landlord already.

pls keep the letter of notice from your landlord as it will be your physical evidence. you can ask your friend to read it and write at
the back "read and understood" and have your friend signed it.

your case is of civil in nature and the police can't help you to resolve if you dispute unless of course when you file a formal civil case.

hope my opinion helps.

regards.

Answer 2

What was your landlord's basis for terminating your lease early?

If you have abided by the terms of your lease and the landlord simply wants you out for his own personal reasons, I'd say that you have a good standing to leave on your own terms.

If you have violated your lease, then your landlord gets to set the terms and it would appear that he's being overly generous with 2 months notice.

Assuming that the first situation is the case, I'd respond that you will agree to the early termination (effective whenever the new property will be ready) upon immediate tender of all security deposits and unearned advance rents already paid as liquidated damages for his violation of the terms of the lease. As a practical matter, you should be prepared to kiss off your security deposit, though.

As always, you should seek competent legal counsel in matters such as this.

Answer 3

neither your landlord nor you can change the terms of the lease w/o the other side agreeing, so on his side doesn't matter that he has given 60 day notice he is bound by the lease terms, so you can hold him to the original term date, unless you have some wacky clause in your lease even that if it only grants the power to LL not tenant equally probably be ruled unenforceable the provision,

I would go to Landlord and say we found a place we r like, release us early from the lease to move , b/c if this place gets taken we have not seen anything else we like and thus will have to hold you to the original lease date expiration because we have no idea when we will find a place

Answer 4

It depends on your lease, if there is a clause that the lease can be terminted by 2 months notice on either side, then you cant move out without giving 2 months notice.
You should double check cos most of the time the landlord has to give 2 months notice, but the tenant only has to give 1.

Maybe speak to your landlord, see if he will let you leave earlier.

Answer 5

If your lease states you must have utilities on and the property cannot be left vacant for more than 2 weeks, then you are in violation of the lease terms if you vacate and turn off utilities no matter who pays rent. The penalties for breaking a lease vary from state to state. Also, did you get your "newly agreed upon" lease in writing? Everything needs to be in writing. Good Luck.

Answer 6

I would check with a lawyer. They should not be able to change the lease unilaterally, but nor should you.

Perhaps you can come to an agreement with your landlords - they obviously want you out a little early, so they may be happy if you leave before then without penalty.

Good luck with the move!

Answer 7

It will depend on your contract and whether you and the landlord have break clauses on ending the aggrement. Even if you are legally bound, your landlord may be willing to come to an arrangement and do the 'right thing' by you as it's him changing the terms.

May be worth seeking advice from the CAB and/or just sitting down your your landlord and coming to a compromise.

Good luck

Answer 8

You will need to give the appropriate notice under your lease - usually a month - in order to leave the premises early. Otherwise if there is no allowance for notice you'll need to negotiate with your landlord.

Answer 9

Fair reason would suggest yes. You have to move out because of the choices he's made. The 2 months notice that he's had to give you is for your benefit, for you to have the time to find somewhere else to go to and arrange what's necessary to move.

Check the fine print on your lease papers.

Answer 10

i think you have to give your landlord at least a months notice but it should give you details of that in your tenancy agreement. go to the citizens advice bureau and see if you can argue your case about them changing the terms of the lease and you might be able to get away with paying less money. if all else fails claim squatters rights!