Life is full of surprises and things don’t always go the way we’d like them to. So it happens that after you’ve searched for a rental house and found one, moved in and started getting used to the new neighborhood, something comes up and you have to move to a different place. If you are renting on a fixed term contract, leaving before it ends is called “breaking a lease” (or in lawyers’ language “terminating a tenancy without grounds”).
When it comes to breaking a lease, you need to know your rights as a tenant. Of course the landlord isn’t going to be happy about your leaving, because he’ll have to find a new tenant and that’s a hassle – but there is a limit to how much he can make you pay.
How to break a lease
You have to give a notice to the landlord / his agent as soon as possible and in writing that you intend to leave on a particular date. When you move out and return the keys in that date, your tenancy ends and you can stop paying rent.
What it costs the tenant to break the lease
Because of your leaving early the landlord is entitled to compensation. You will need to compensate him
1) for the loss of rent that he would otherwise be getting and
2) for the costs he incurred to advertise the house again.
This means that you’ll have to pay the rent until a new tenant is found or until your fixed term lease ends. The good news is that the compensation is limited to 25 week’s rent, so even if you’ve just signed for a year and after 3 months had to leave they can’t charge you for the whole remaining 9 months.
Speaking of costs of re-letting the house again, these too have limit. Under no circumstances your landlord can ask for more than a week’s rent to cover these costs. And no matter how much they ask for, request an itemized list specifying all of their expenses to justify the bill. In other words they can’t just charge you a “re-letting fee” of one week’s rent without explaining what exactly they spent that money on and proving that the money was actually spent.
I have heard from friends about cases where the landlord wasn’t trying to find a new tenant and just kept charging the tenants that broke the lease because that was easier for him. You should know that it is actually illegal, and the landlord is not entitled for compensation for loss that could have been minimized or avoided if they had the house advertised for rent. If this is happening to you, here is what you can do:
- Make sure that the agency is advertising the house for rent
- Make sure they haven’t increased the rent (because obviously that will attract fewer prospective tenants)
- Don’t pay the rent (the compensation) up front – you should be compensating for the loss that the landlord has suffered, not covering anticipated loss.
- Until they find a new tenant, keep checking that the house is advertised. If they take it off the market for renovations, you shouldn’t be paying the compensation.
{ 51 comments… read them below or add one }
We have to break our lease by 6 weeks because my husband has been relocated interstate. I understand that we have to compensate the owner by paying rent until another tenant has been found. However, the agent now says that we will still be responsible for the property after we’ve moved out (being at the other side of the continent!) and that a final inspection won’t be done unless a new tenant moves in. On top of that we’ll have to pay $120 for that inspection – isn’t it suppose to be part of any lease agreement?
Hi Jelene, this final inspection fee doesn’t make sense – they would have done it anyway, no matter when you leave. Even if you didn’t break the lease there still would be a final inspection, so why do they try to charge you for it?
Hello there.. My husband and I were wanting to break the lease however
The real estate said it would cost us $700+10% for gst for breaking the lease
Also keep paying the rent until a tenant moves thus I understand however we are paying $800 ATM but rent around us is way expensive and said that the owner is entitled to put the rent up.. My problem is where we are the house would get tenants in it straight away if the rent was the same but they want to put up so I’m afraid that we will still be paying rent up until our lease is up which is crazy so I was wondering how much can they increase the rent by? Please help
Kind regards
Kathy
Hi Kathy,
Where do you guys live, what state? VIC, NSW?
Cheers,
Chris
If you break a lease does your bond get refunded when a new tennant moves into the property?
After you’ve paid them the fees for re-letting the property, if there’s anything left from your bond you should get it back.
Hi Chris,
I am living in Adelaide and renting an apartment since 10.08.2011. The apartment is the next second door to the pool plant which is running 24*7 hours and make loud noice continuously. The noise made me sleep very badly and now I am really thinking of breaking the lease that is supposed to end at the end of this year. Why I first address the issue now is because the pool was closed for annual inspection from 15.08 – 30.08 and after that I tried to sleep with earplugs better. That helps a little bit but I got ear inflammation since two days. It becomes more and more annoying. I would like to knwo if I have right to break the lease withouting paying the compensation to the landlord.
Thanks and kind regards,
Kerry
Hi Chris,
I live in SA and will have to break the lease early due to my husband relocating interstate for work.
I have had nothing but trouble from the rental agents/landlord since the minute I moved here and feel I was tricked into signing the contract as when we moved in and couldn’t find the controls for the ducted a/c we were then told that there wasn’t ducted a/c.
It also clearly states on the inspection forms that there is.
When I first viewed the property I commented on the vents in the ceiling being a/c and the agent agreed that the house did have a/c.
I would never I would never have signed a contract to rent without a/c as I have done that before and it wasn’t very pleasant.
So I am wondering where I stand on this? and would be greatful for any advice you can offer.
Many Thanks
Debbie
hi, the house i am renting has just been sold. it is now in the cooling off period which i am led to belive is 7 days. we have 5 weeks untill our lease runs out. the problem is i am due to have a baby in 7 weeks and need to be settled before she arrives, so we are thinking about breaking our lease a few weeks early. we cant start applying for houses untill we know how much time we have in this house, i am not sure of what the time limit is on for once the house has been sold i think its 6 weeks.
do u think i will have many troubles with breaking the lease and is it up to the new owner or old owner regarding the fees??
Hi Jasmine,
The new owner gets the house on the settlement date, not on the date they signed the contract or the date the contract goes unconditional. So depending on when the settlement date is you will have to deal with either the old or the new owner in regard to all the fees. Also, on average it takes around 6 weeks to find a new rental house, so I guess you better start looking if your baby is due in 7 weeks
Hi my name is Heather, now im currently on a 2year lease since 19/09/2011 and would like to terminate my lease, but because the is my first time renting and also terminating a lease i really have now idea of what to do? what to expect? what im going to be charged? etc. please help
Hello,
Thanks in advance for checking my comment. My husband and i been living at our current adress for 2 years and we (had the bad idea to) renew the lease (1 year). The problem is the property keeps getting flooded simply because it’s like 50-100 cms under the street level. We found out after we moved in that the block was declared unfit for building for that reason. After 3 floods in 1 month, a previous flood that affected the house inside, and repeatedly cleaning the yard we’d like to know if there’s a way to break the lease agreement and retrieve our bond.
Hi due to financial difficulties we have had to break lease and leave our home we rent due to finance we can no longer afford to stay at our property will we still be charged for compensation? And other loss even thou we have paid up to we have left?
Hi Rita, it seems that the landlord still may be able to claim some compensation from you, such as
– a pro rated amount of any re-letting fee;
– advertising costs; or
– rent for a reasonable time until new tenants move in, or until the end of the fixed-term lease, whichever is less.
I am not qualified to give you legal advice, but if you visit this page here of the Law Handbook you’ll get more information on breaking a lease http://www.lawhandbook.org.au/handbook/ch10s01s06.php
My partner and I signed a lease in Qld. in July 2011. We were moving from Victoria for health reasons, where we had air conditioning. When we asked the owner (no estate agent involved) about air conditioning, he said ‘this is not the Sunshine Coast in the Gold Coast it is not as hot as to need an air conditioning’. This is not true we cannot live in the flat with temperatures of 28C inside day and night… We want to move further south in NSW where it seems it is a bit less hot. Could you tell us please what our situation is regarding breaking the lease. We are seniors. I am 74 y.o. My partner is 68 y.o.
Thanks in anticipation
Hi Monsie,
As much as I hate the way that landlord lied to you, there seems to be no legal way to break the lease and not pay re-letting fees, rent loss, etc. Unless you get him to agree to let you go.
Hello,
My husband and i recently had to break lease to move for work. I have been checking and the house has been advertised but when i have a prospective renter (sneeky friend) call up the man says they have already had applications and probably wont hold more open homes, however when i call him to find out how things are going he tells me its dead quiet and has had no interest!!!! dont know what to do!!! HELP????
Hi Holly,
I don’t know where they’re going with this silly game. If I understand the law correctly, you as a tenant who broke the lease are only liable for whatever loss in rent they couldn’t prevent. In court they have to prove they did all they could to minimize losses. It’s not that you are automatically liable to pay the rent till the end of time, until a tenant accidentally shows up on their doorstep.
I’d gather evidence (record a phone-call such as your friend made) to prove they weren’t trying to minimize rent loss, just in case they try and pin it on you.
Sorry you have to go through this.
Hey, we have just been informed by our landlords that they will be selling the house and they are looking for another investor so we can stay on… However we think we now have enough savings and finances to buy our own home elsewhere… Can we break lease when the house is sold and transferred to the new owner? What sort of notice do we need to give? We just signed on for a 2nd 12 month contact in October 2011 and live in South Australia. Thanks
Hi Sarah,
it seems there is no legal way for you to end the lease without paying all the fees associated with breaking a fixed term lease. The fact tat landlords are selling the house doesn’t help here. You can try and come to an agreement with the landlords and get their permission (in writing!) to end the lease early without any fees. If they don’t find an investor they will have to give you notice to vacate anyway, so they may as well do it in advance.
Having to break a lease can be very excruciating (maybe that is a doubly bad situation). I was lucky because the landlord was happy to find a better tenant than I had been. Not that I was bad, but one of my boys is handicapped and this caused numerous problems that caused us to have to move.
Hello, I am wanting to break my lease due to feeling unsafe because of the new neighbour in the other part of my duplex. The agents are aware of this and have breached this tenant for causing discomfort and disturbing the peace of neighbours but he continues to do so. My car tyres have been punctured ( and I feel it was this neighbour in retaliation for my complaining) ashtrays of cigarette butts tipped over my fence and he constantly yells at his child which distresses mine. I have 4 months left on my lease but want to get out of here as soon as possible, could you advise me on where I stand under these circumstances please and thankyou
I have recently purchased a house whilst I have 6 months left on my lease. I contacted my realestate agent months ago and they told me I was on a periodic lease and only had to give 2 weeks notice. However now I have informed them I will be moving into my new house in 3 weeks they have told me I have 6 months left on my lease after I have entered the settlement period of my house. How can I cancel my contract so I am not paying rent and a mortgage? I can not afford both
Hi Jared,
So what type of lease are you on, periodic or fixed? You need to find out for sure first. Have a look at your lease agreement, it should clearly say which kind it is.
hey! ive signed a years lease and im paying upto $1630 a month & ive been here 3 months n wanna move out to a suburb but i dont know how to go about this cuz im basically a international student here and im stuck trying to find a job aswell. what happens if i dont pay the rent? if i just say im broke heres ur notice n move out of this property?!
Hi Anela,
There are forms you need to fill to give a proper notice of intent to leave – where are you, which state?
- Chris
“hi im sarah. the property we are renting was put on the market just after 3 months of us living here (qld). we signed a 12 month lease which ends in may. Do i have grounds to end my lease because they are selling the property? it makes it so hard to work, …”
Hi Sarah,
The fact that they put your house on the market doesn’t automatically mean you can break the lease without paying any fees. If you find it hard to cope with open for inspection times they schedule, have a look at this page – there are a couple of links to all the rules agents must follow to enter your property.
http://www.rta.qld.gov.au/Renting/Moving-out/Ending-a-tenancy-agreement/Property-is-sold.aspx
These are QLD-specific.
I hope it helps.
Cheers,
Chris
Hi we have given notice to our real estate to break our lease. Its now being advertised for lease. I want to know if we are allowed to apply for another property while we are still waiting for some one to take over our other lease we have broken?
Hi Nicole – why wouldn’t you be allowed? You gave them a date when you’ll move out, right? So you have to find somewhere else to live.
hi i am just writing to see if any one can help, my family has just brought a house that we are moving into , we have to break our lease as to where we are as we simply cant afford the rent n having a new born, the cost of living in the family home is better for us , we contacted the agents with a designated date of our moving and they sent a letter giving us another date 2 weeks after the original that we requested,and told us we have to pay for everything until such time? we simply cant afford to pay two rents with a young family n apprenticeship wages! is there a legal loophole that can get of paying this as a house has been bought for us to live in?
Hi,
I am wanting to find out how to break my lease in Qld.
My husband and I just signed a 12 month lease in mid November. We are extremely disappointed with where we are. Firstly for our $400 p/wk townhouse, we have housing commission right next door which was not pointed out to us, not that we are snobs but for the rent we pay I don’t think I want the neighbours and their children looking into my courtyard from their balconies 24/7! They are literally on top of us!
My main concern is safety as our very first night there was an attempted burglary where the screen were cut to try and open our locks on the security screens. After a phone call and an email to the real estate for a request to put in the plastic/Perspex around the lock, the owners of the property took 2 weeks to get to us with a ‘NO’ and we could do it ourselves at our own expense! I was extremely frustrated at this being our first fortnight in a new place.
Now 3 months in we have had another 4 attempted break ins and do not feel safe in any way! I want to convey this to the real estate but judging by the response we got from the plastic/Perspex incident I am not in any way hopeful that breaking the lease will be in any way easy or cheap for us.
I need some help!!
Hi Stacey,
this sounds really bad … I am so sorry. If you’re in VIC, try these people http://www.tuv.org.au/ (Tenants Union of Victoria) – they can give you advice regarding your particular situation on what your options are.
Hope you can find a solution to this.
Cheers,
Chris
Hi Chris,
Thanks for the reply, however I am inQld. I should maybe get in contact with the RTA here.
Cheers,
Stacey
There’s a Tenants Union of QLD – go here: http://www.tuq.org.au/
I hope they may have some practical advice for you. Could you comment back here after you speak to them (if that’s OK)? It would help everyone else in similar situations.
Hi Chris,
My lease started on 7 September 2011. I am sharing house with couple. I want to break lease. And other couple wants to stay. But they are asking me to replace some one. What should I do.
Please advise.
Thanks Varun
Hi chris.
Ive moved into a new apartment for a few days on a one year contract, however the neighbours smoke enter my apartment all the time. My housemate and i cannot tolerate this and plan on breaking lease a few days into it.
How would u estimate the compensation in this matter?
Cheers
Jack
Hi Jack,
You could try to get the landlord / estate agent speak with the neighbors about this first, then break the lease? Or perhaps you could even speak with them yourself?
Hi Chris
We are breaking our lease a mth early to get a new rental. The agent for the new rental wouldnt let us wait 2 or even 1 week as agent said if I didnt sign an pay bond an rent she would give to another couple. So I did. I went to unpack some boxes that day at the new place. I had a flea jump on me in the bathroom, then I had ants in the kitchen, kitchen cupboards, dining room and study. I couldn’t even unpack or bring my pets there. I argued with them about getting pest removal in an finally they did, today, 2 days later. There’s more, also the bathroom hadnt been cleaned, there’s dog poo all over yard, I didn’t know I’d be looking after a large goldfish in a pond, yet not given any water allowance to do this. I also wasn’t told the landlord was storing glass picture frames in the shed, on the ground an one is broken. There’s a stereo that doesn’t work and a fridge that’s got chemicals an paint in?! After signing lease, was told about a oleander bush that can poison or make my kids go blind growing next to the front door. I had to complain about that, I can remove it but then replace it with something at my cost. Agent said tenant must leave a full gas bottle when lease ends but our gas bottle is empty. I asked agent if gutters have been cleaned she said yes not long ago. Then had to complain as there was weeds growing out the gutter. Ive paid rent as of 23/01/12 but haven’t been able to unpack let alone move in! I tried to break my lease only 3 hours after signing but agent said I cant as there is no cooling off period. Do I have any rights? Shouldn’t the property be ready to move into when Iv’e paid rent? I feel agent has lied to me to get me to sign up!
Hi Melissa,
I would feel the same way. I would gather all the things that went wrong and ring the Consumer Affairs or Tenants Union in your state, they should be able to give you step by step advice how this can be solved. Here is a link to an article I wrote with contact details for services where tenants can get friendly help http://www.homeiown.com/renting-a-house-and-have-a-problem-heres-how-to-get-help/
When this is over please update us here on what happened and how it was solved, OK?
Hey
We moved into our house sat 21st jan (years lease), and since then we have encountered several problems! The hot water went on sunday eve, the est agt was informed the next morning. I made a follow up phone call on Tues along with another problem of the locks on the bedroom doors. A request was put in for the landlord to provide key to the doors or change locks around as they kept locking from the inside (not ideal with 3 young kids). Two doors locked from the inside so it ended up the kids had to sleep on our bed and us on the floor one night. We ended up breaking the locks to gain access to the bedrooms. A plumber popped around Tues eve but have heard nothing since. No hot water and no keys for bedroom doors!
From then, we have discovered ants in the living area, bugs in one of the bedrooms, front door lock is getting more and more difficult to unlock from the outside with a key and a stink in the hall!
We hate it here and want to leave, but are worried about the repercussions about breaking a lease so early.
Hi Jo,
So sorry to hear you have to put up with this all, and that it inconveniences your family. I think that the options are either (1) break a lease and pay the costs, or (2) get the landlord to cooperate. You can get help with (2) through tenants’ union or consumer affairs in your state. Have a look at this article http://www.homeiown.com/renting-a-house-and-have-a-problem-heres-how-to-get-help/ – it lists all the organizations that can help you make the landlord listen to your requests. Hope you can solve this soon!
ok i want to break lease as the suburb we have moved in to is full of people that have no respect. iv had people vandlise my cars with eggs and not so long ago written off in a hit and run. my girlfriends cars as been broken into and set fire to. my boat has had its gear stolen out of. and u dont dare go out side at night. me and my girlfriend are both sick. my girlfriend has a terminal illness and the stress dose not help her situation. we can’t afford to compensate the landlord as we have medical bills. my girlfriend can not stay home a lone at night because of the fights that often end up in our yard and our stuff including our cars get damaged as only one can fit on the property.
what can i do
Hi Chris,
I have moved into a house on Dec 2011 and signed up for a 6 month lease. Unfortunately, my company was asking me to relocate to another country and I am ending up breaking the lease. However, when the inspection was held, there were 12 applications (as told by the agent) but the owner has rejected all of them. One of my friend who had 2 years rental history and applied for 20$/week more than what I was paying, but the owner rejected and kept on rejecting the applications. Is there any way I can legally proceed on the owner as he is not approving any of the applications?
Many thanks in advance.
Regards,
Naresh
Hi Naresh,
This certainly sounds suspicious. I suggest that you contact an organization such as Tenants’ Union or Consumer Affairs – there is a list in this article http://www.homeiown.com/renting-a-house-and-have-a-problem-heres-how-to-get-help/. They will be able to suggest the right way to handle the situation.
Hi Chris,
We purchased a house so we had to break the lease. We informed the agent in November and were asked to pay $700 lease break fees ( two weeks rent) and $250 advertising fees plus GST ($70+$25). I was not sure about the 2 weeks rent, but the agent said that it’s their policy. He told us that we will have to keep paying rent until new tenants are found. I told him it would be very difficult for us but he told me not to worry because he will do everything he could to find new tenants ASAP.
Our lease started on 15/04 /2011 and ends on 15/04/2012. We paid the lease breaking fees and moved out on 12th December. We were asked to pay the rent for December after we moved out. On 22nd December, we were asked to pay rent again. I was very busy handling the new house settlement and did not ask clearly. We paid the rent again. ( which I just found out it is the rent for January)
A few days ago, the agent called me and told us that a small damage on the ceiling caused by the electrician has to be repaired by us. I told him that it wasn’t caused by us so we are not going to pay for it. He said the electrician swore black and white it wasn’t him which is a lie. I refused to pay for it, but the agent said I might still have to pay because I didn’t tell him “straight away”. I called the TUV ( we are in Victoria) and was told that we should not pay for it AND more importantly, we should not have to pay for any rent.
Now it had come to my attention, I am furious because I feel that we have been ripped off! Chris, can you help me out? Where do we stand on this?
Hi Shala,
Did the TUV people suggest a course of action? From what I know they can provide tenants advocacy services or at least tell you what legal action you can take against the landlord. Keep us posted here, we’d like to follow your progress.
Hi Chris,
Hoping you can offer some advice.
I live in a rental property of 4 persons in Victoria through a private landlord, all with equal bond, with a signed lease for 12 months to be concluded in May. One of our housemates had a temporary relocation interstate for business, which grew from 2 to 4 weeks as originally planned to 3 to 4 months. His employer continued to pay rent for this period. He returned to announce that he had been offered a generous contract to relocate permanently and would departing in 3 days. He stated that as a part of his generous new contract, his employer would pay his share of the rent until February, a verbal agreement between the four of us. He has made no attempt to find a replacement for himself nor has he contacted us to enquire about our attempts to do the same. Dozens of phone calls, to his only contact number, have gone unanswered as we have attempted to discuss options for the ongoing payments. 2 days after rent is due he says he will no longer pay, despite our verbal agreement stating that his employer will pay until the end of February. We feel somewhat ambushed as we had no knowledge that a quarter of our rather large monthly lease was about to cease.
My housemates and I would like to know where we stand regarding:
-whose responsibility is it to replace a departing housemate? (ie. remaining tenants, tenant that left or the landlord)
-can the 3 remaining tenants pay their full share and put the matter of the outstanding rent to the landlord to pursue?
-what grounds do we/landlord have to force the departed tenant to pay rent?
We would greatly appreciate any advice you have on the matter.
Thanks, Nicole
Hi Nicole,
Sound like you need legal advice, not just a “common sense” advice. I suggest that you read my article here http://www.homeiown.com/renting-a-house-and-have-a-problem-heres-how-to-get-help/ – it lists all the organizations in all states that help tenants solve problems such as the one you described. I am sure that Tenants Union in your state can help you with this.
Cheers,
Chris
hi,
my partner and i have gave written notice to vacacte our property three months prior to the end of our fixed term lease. i discussed with a worker there about not putting an exact date as we would just move our belongings out the day they rang us to say they had found new tenants. she said this was fine. my partner was then contacted by a second person from the real estate agency. when asked when we wanted to move he explained as soon as they got someone else. the agent stated they would do their best and get onto straight away. it then took them a further two weeks to even start advertising.
the advertisement the agency has placed is not very good and i feel it does not do the property any justice or sound very enticing for someone to want to rent.
we understand we are liable to pay for advertising costs to readvertise the property but where do we stand in terms of wanting further information added to the advertisement, especially if we are paying the costs. for example they did not include that out rent total was $300 per week however this included the electricity bill, also have not included that it has a lock up garage and a spa bath!
kinds regards
madelynn
Hi Madelynn,
You can get advice and complete answers to your questions from a Tenants Union in your state – I’ve just written an article that lists organizations in all states that deal with tenancy issues and represent tenants’ interests. Please go here for the details http://www.homeiown.com/renting-a-house-and-have-a-problem-heres-how-to-get-help/
Cheers,
Chris
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