Can I brake a lease due to financial/medical issues?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Can I brake a lease due to financial/medical issues?
I have 7 months left on my lease; unemployed for the last 3 months. I had a son born last month with a rare medical condition that is requiring lots of physical therapy and doctorappointments. I spoke to my landlord who said I would need to give them 60 days notice, plus pay them $1700 for breaking the lease. I’m about ready to just walk away.
Asked on July 19, 2011 under Real Estate Law, Colorado
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
You first need to read the express terms of your written lease with your landlord assuming you have a written lease to see if there are provisions in it allowing the early termination of a lease without penalty. The written agreement between the landlord and tenant on the subject of your question would typically answer your question.
If you do not have a written lease, or if you do and there is no mention of ways to end your lease without a penalty ($1,700.00), most likely you can end your lease due to financial and medical issues but you would still be responsible for paying on the lease for the remainder of its term.
However, the landlord is required to try and rent out the unit you wish to vacate to reduce any damages he or she might incur if you leave early and pay the desired amount of $1,700.00. If you pay the amount, you need to get something in writing from the landlord that best efforts would be made to lease out the unit you are leaving and if it is leased out during the balance of the term you have for it, you would get a refund of monies paid to the landlord when you are not living in the unit.
Good luck.
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.