landlords

How to break a residential tenancy agreement.

Life doesn’t always go as planned. This can sometimes affect your ability to complete the terms of your residential tenancy agreement (lease), like needing to break the lease early.

You might have lost your job or broken up with your girlfriend or maybe once you’ve moved in you’ve found the house just isn’t right for you. Or maybe you just aren’t getting along with your real estate agent – I’ve been there – and now you need to break your lease. So what’s the best way to get out of your rental’s lease?

1. Be upfront with your landlord.

As soon as you realise that you’re not going to be able to fulfill the terms of your lease you should let your landlord or real estate agent know including the reasons why. Your landlord will likely understand and be thankful that you’ve let them know sooner than later. Also make sure you let them know when you’re likely to be moving out and the steps you’re going to be taking to make the situation easier.

At the end of the day breaking a lease is not ideal but the more you can do to make life easier for your landlords the better the situation will play out. If you can help them find new tenants and minimise disruption you can still walk away with a great reference for your next place and with the minimum of out of pocket expenses.

2. Set a date to move out.

Work out when you’re likely to be out of the property. This will help you to plan packing and moving as well as cleaning and inspections to find someone to take over the lease.

Setting a definitive date that you will vacate the premises by will allow your landlord and their potential future tenants to plan their lives better.

3. Help advertise.

One of the bigger stresses that your landlord is going to face when you break your lease is how to find new tenants to move in. If you can help to solve this problem for them you’re going a long way to keeping them on your side.

Let them know you would like to help advertise the property and post the details to your social networks including online, to your friends and family and to your workplace. Being able to find someone connected to you socially is going to mean the transition will be easier and your landlord will have a personal reference from you.

The added benefit of helping to find new tenants is that you’re reducing the amount of time that the property is vacant for which you may otherwise be liable for.

4. Be open for inspections.

Let your landlords know when you’ll be ready to start having inspections for potential new tenants. The house will need to be in immaculate condition at this point though having a few boxes lying around is understandable.

The more flexible you can be in allowing inspections the better.

5. Leave the house in better condition than how you found it.

Generally it’s worthwhile to hire a professional cleaner to come through if you can afford it. They’re always going to be more thorough than you will be, they do this for a living.

If there is any damage that has happened to the property try to get it corrected before you move out or at the minimum let the landlords know. Any damage that is not on your property condition report is going to reduce the amount of bond you will get paid back when you vacate.

At the end of the day honesty and transparency is the best option when you need to break a lease. Keep in regular contact with your landlord or real estate agent and get them to understand what you’re doing and why. Breaking a lease doesn’t have to be a negative experience.

Have you ever had to break a lease on a rental property? We’d love to hear your experiences in the comments.

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Tags: break a lease, how to break a lease, landlords, obligations, responsibilities, tenants