Early lease termination offer
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Early lease termination offer
Hi, I signed an early lease termination with my landlord he signed also,
agreeing to pay one month of rent to break our rental lease seven months early.
We moved out, the apartment was renovated and advertised as available for
immediate rental.
However, due to a logistical mixup the one month rent payment from me to the
landlord never went through.
The landlord is now saying I owe seven months rent to cover the period from when
we moved out to the original expiration of the lease? Is that true?
There was no communication in the seven months following us vacating the
apartment, until we got a demand for all outstanding rent
Happy to provide more information if necessary. Thank you
Asked on May 23, 2019 under Real Estate Law, New York
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
If you violated the terms of the agreement by not getting the money to the landlord--and it was your responsibility and obligation to make sure that he received it--you violated the early termination agreement. That agreement was a contract; if one party (you) violates it in a material, or important, way (such as by not paying, regardless of the reason why you did not pay), the other party (the landlord) can treat that agreement as terminated (i.e. does not have to follow it). In that case, you would be obligated to pay rent until the earlier of your lease expiring (e.g. 7 months) or until he re-rented the premises.
He in turn had the obligation to make reasonable efforts to re-rent; if he did not do so, he violated his duty to "mitigate"--or reduce/minimize--"damages" (his loss), and will only be able to get rent for the reasonable period it should normally, with reasonable efforts, take to re-rent such an apartment or residence. Not that as long as he made reasonable efforts--e.g. listed it for rental with an agent--then he did his part; if he could not re-rent it despite trying, that would not be his fault and he could collect rent until the end of the lease.
That they did not provide you earlier notice that the payment did not go through or that you were in breach is irrelevant; he did not legally have to provide this.
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.