A Brief Introduction about the Early Lease Termination Agreement
An early lease termination agreement is required when a Lease or Rental Agreement, which is made between a Landlord and Tenant is being ended. This type of agreement is designated for a Tenant who wants to cancel a standard rental agreement before its end date.
Who takes the agreement – People Involved?
This agreement is made between Landlord and Tenant.
Purpose of the Early Lease Termination Agreement– Why do you need it
In case the tenant entered into a month-to-month lease agreement, then the tenant would have legal grounds to break the lease agreement at any point according to their State notice period. The tenant would require using the lease termination letter and sending it towards the landlord by certified mail with return receipt.
Contents of the Early Lease Termination Agreement– Inclusions
Early termination of lease agreement template would identify the following basic elements, which include:
- Landlord: name of the party who possesses the Premises that is being rented
- Tenant: name of the party who leases the Premises and pays the Landlord
- Original Lease or Rental Agreement: name, start, and end date of the contract
- Vacate Date: when the Tenant would move out and leave the property
- Forwarding Address: where to send any forthcoming notices or security deposit
- Reason for Termination: an explanation for ending the lease.
How to Draft the Early Lease Termination Agreement– Points to consider while preparing the agreement
The points to consider while drafting this agreement include;
Basic terms – This agreement is required to release you from your responsibilities as a leaseholder completely. The basic terms to take account of are:
- The Start date and end dates of the lease, the address and the name of your landlord
- Monthly rent sum
- Security deposit sum
- A lease modification or lease addendum clause that specifies when the lease is canceled
Mutual release – It is in the interest of both parties to ensure that the termination agreement includes an early termination clause that releases you both from any type of liability to one another. You must consider while drafting this agreement that:
Each party releases the other party from all the claims, demands, damages, rights, obligations, and causes of action of any nature, whether at law or equity, known or unknown, suspected or unsuspected, which are connected or in any manner incidental towards the Lease or the Premises and which first arise out of transactions and incidences from and after the Termination Date.
It must clearly state that your landlord would not hold you accountable for any extra fees or rent payments after the date of termination.
Consideration for the release – The agreement must also include all of the fees that you paid or agreed in order to pay exchange for the release from the lease.
No document could stop lawsuits, but if you and your landlord sign a lease termination agreement, it will make parting ways clear, ensuring that you both are on the same page regarding your move-out date, condition of the apartment, security deposit return as well as any fees. Having a signed agreement could also help you in your defense in case things sour.
Negotiation Strategy
Some early termination of lease agreement needs notice to be sent if the landlord-tenant relationship would end. In case you want to end your agreement early, you must use a Notice of Termination to officially communicate the requirement to end the agreement.
Benefits and Drawbacks of the Early Lease Termination Agreement
Benefits
In case a landlord is breaching the terms of this agreement, the tenant might be able to move out without giving notice or giving less notice than usually required.
A landlord might legally terminate a lease in case the tenant violates the terms of the lease or has breached the law. The breach by the tenant should be significant, for instance, late rent, or having a pet regardless of a prohibition against pets in the properties.
Drawbacks
If you do not make an early lease termination agreement, the court might not empathize with your situation. The law doesn’t look well upon Tenants who merely move out without any notice or Landlords who throw out their Tenants without any prior warning(1).
What Happens in Case of Violation?
This agreement is a lawfully binding agreement. If it is violated, compensation shall probably require to be paid. The worst matters could end up in court
- Compensation
- Money can be owed towards the property landlord as a result of breaking the lease agreement. This is known as compensation.
- The tenant might also need to pay reasonable re-letting and advertising charges.
- Any compensation or payment possibilities for the sum is required to be discussed amid the tenant and the landlord (this may comprise how the bond is to be paid out).
- The landlord should mitigate any loss associated with the violation of the lease(2).
The procedure of terminating a lease early relies on the tenant and their relationship with the landlord of the property. An early lease termination agreement is a mutual procedure: the tenant states the desire to leave, evidently and with sufficient notice, and together with the landlord as well as tenant reaches a satisfactory solution.