Do I have to pay to break my lease?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Do I have to pay to break my lease?
My lease signed by me and the management
does not have a move in date, lease end date,
and the fields that are supposed to have the
early termination fee are also blank. So no start
or end date to my lease, with no early term fee.
It just says 60 days notice. However, the
management office is saying there is an early
term fee anyway.
Asked on August 26, 2019 under Real Estate Law, North Carolina
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 4 years ago | Contributor
If the lease was for a set or fixed period of time, such as the common one-year lease, then if you break it early, you can be held responsible for all rent remaining until the end of the lease. But if there is no "lease end" date but only a 60 days notice period, then your only obligation is to provide 60 days notice: if you do, you are not responsible for any other amounts (unless you caused physical damage to the unit); if you fail to provide 60 days notice, you have to pay for the full notice period (e.g. you provide 30 days notice; since you were supposed to provide 60 days notice, you have to pay an additional 30 days of rent). If there is no amount filled in for the early termination fee, there is no early termination fee.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.