There are times when a tenant may wish to leave a rental property before the lease expires. In this instance the cancellation clause in the lease agreement would need to be referred to.
Where the rental agreement is for a fixed time and there is no cancellation clause, the tenant may not cancel the lease unless the landlord agrees or is in breach of the contract.
Where the agreement is from month to month, then a calendar month’s notice would apply in cancelling the lease. But where the rental agreement is for a fixed time and there is no cancellation clause, the tenant may not cancel the lease unless the landlord agrees or is in breach of the contract.
However, when an unsatisfactory tenant absconds having failed to pay a month or two of rent, landlords will often heave a sigh of relief.
The reason for this is that this situation, says Michael Bauer, General Manager of the property management company, IHFM, is preferable to becoming involved in the lengthy, tortuous process of eviction, which is called for by the PIE (Prevention of Illegal Occupation) Act.
However, the fact that a tenant has left of his own accord does not prevent the landlord from suing him not only for the unpaid rent but also for the rent payable on the remainder of his lease. Bauer says this applies even when he has given a month’s notice.
In practice, he says, if the matter is then taken to court most judges will be reluctant to grant the landlord his full payment and will usually award him only the outstanding rent payments plus claims for damages (provided these can be substantiated) - the thinking being that in most cases the landlord is usually able to re-let the unit within a reasonable time frame.
Most lease agreements, says Bauer, contain clauses to the effect that the tenant may leave early provided at his expense he finds someone acceptable to the landlord to take over his lease. This simple solution is, however, all too often not used by tenants in financial difficulties, simply because they are not aware of it – or cannot afford to advertise.
“The good news is that since the introduction of the National Credit Act, there has been a noticeable improvement in financial awareness and responsibility and a decrease in tenants absconding.”
Landlords, says Bauer, should always ask for a deposit from a tenant before a tenant moves in and in some cases this should cover two months rent.
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