So, you want to break your lease. At leasebreak.com, we can help! There are a host of reasons that you may want to get out of your lease. Perhaps you have a family medical emergency or you are moving in with your significant other. Or you just got a great job offer out of town, or perhaps you are separating with your partner, or one of you is pregnant!!! The list goes on and on. The idea of leasebreak.com is to WORK ON FRIENDLY TERMS WITH YOUR LANDLORD and with your landlord’s permission, help you find a qualified person to take over your lease. As long as the landlord is not financially affected in a negative way, they usually will try to work with you.
Let me start out by saying that we are NOT attorneys, and we are not in any way, shape, or form offering any sort of legal advice. For any legal advice, you should consult an attorney right away. If you are looking for a way to “legally” get out of your lease without communicating openly and on friendly terms with your landlord, then this is NOT the web site for you. Leasebreak.com IS for you if it is critically important for you to break your lease commitment, and if you are willing to work with your landlord to find a pleasant solution.
Remember, you have a business contract (a “lease”) with your landlord, so in most cases you are financially obligated to pay your rent for the duration of the lease, assuming your lease does not suggest otherwise (Again, please consult an attorney if you have any questions about this). However, most landlords would prefer to have a good relationship with their current tenants and if they can avoid having a very unhappy tenant living in one of their apartment, they are usually open to ideas. If you have a good reason to end your lease early, the landlord may let you out of your obligation so long as the landlord does not have to come out of pocket to do so.
THREE STEPS TO BREAK YOUR LEASE
Below are the three steps you should take if you are looking to exit your lease early:
1) Read your lease. Read through your entire lease and confirm your lease end date. Also, see what the lease says about ending your lease early or subletting your lease. Consult an attorney if you need any help understanding the lease.
2) Reach out to your landlord and explain your situation. Ask to end your lease early. You never know, maybe the landlord wants to end your lease early anyway for some reason so it is worth asking, right? If your landlord agrees to let you out of your lease early either without any additional financial responsibility or without the burden of you having to find a replacement tenant, then congrats! You don’t need to read any further!
However, most likely and understandingly, your landlord would like you to fulfill the financial obligations of the lease. Therefore, at this point you should ask the landlord if it would be okay if you presented him or her someone else who was qualified to “take over” your lease. The key here is that the landlord needs to know you are willing to do the work to find someone, and that he or she would not be affected financially. Leasebreak.com is designed to help you find a replacement tenant for the landlord with no financial impact to your landlord.
Most landlords will agree to this arrangement. Once a landlord agrees, there are two major pieces of information you should try to obtain from them.
First, you should ask your landlord what basic qualifications he/she is looking for in a tenant and what qualification documents from the prospective tenant he/she would like to see. This way, you can prepare interested parties who contact you on leasebreak.com regarding what paperwork is required. If you or your landlord are working with a real estate agent, the real estate agent is best equipped to handle this aspect of the process.
Second, you and the landlord should discuss his or her preferred method(s) for ending your lease so you can best prepare your new tenant. Again, if you are working with a real estate agent, this would be critical information they would need. Please note that in some cases the building regulations will determine which method you will have to use. Here are the three most common methods of ending your lease early with your landlord:
a) Lease Assignment: The landlord allows a new tenant to literally “take over” your lease and assigns your lease to this new person. The new tenant is now directly responsible for the duration of your lease. Leasebreak.com can help you find this new tenant.
b) Sublet: The landlord allows a “sub-tenant” to replace you for the duration of your lease. In this case, you are still responsible for the rent and this new sub-tenant will usually pay the rent to you, and then you will pay the landlord as you would normally do, although this payment arrangement can be modified. Leasebreak.com can help you find this subtenant.
c) Lease Break: The landlord agrees to let you out of our financial commitment and agrees to start a new lease with the new tenant that would likely start the day after your agreed upon termination date. Of the three methods, this one may be the most advantageous to both you and your landlord. You may have a greater chance of finding a replacement with this arrangement and the landlord can possibly increase the rent and the duration of the lease to suit his or her needs. Leasebreak.com can help you find this new tenant, who will in turn sign a brand new lease.
3) Post your apartment details on Leasebreak.com to try to find a new tenant
After completing steps #1 and #2, you or your real estate agent should post your apartment details on leasebreak.com by following the steps on our web site. Press “Post Your Lease Break” from the home page and then follow the online steps. Once you have successfully submitted the details for your apartment on our web site, those searching for apartments like yours that also match up with the remaining term on your lease will contact you. Good luck!
If you are ready to post your listing, click HERE. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact us at [email protected].