Posted by
Slammy
17 yrs ago
Hi there,
My mum wants to break her lease and leave four months early. She's taken great care of the brand new flat she rents in Tung Chung, 1200 sf for 12,000. This was a good price and the rental price has increased a lot, so the landlord would definately be able to re-rent for more money and wouldn't have to do any re-painting etc.
My question is this: if she finds someone to replace her, then I can understand that she might be required to cover agents fees - ie. $6000.
But if the landlord rents the flat for more money, that's a new contract right? And he is benefiting? Could he ask my mum to cover his costs for the agents fees of finding a new tenant if he starts a new contract with someone else, asking for more money?
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Does she have a Break Clause in the lease (usually one or two months) as she may have to ride that term out and then is not responsible for any agents fee. If she is breaking the lease before the first year (of a normal two year lease) then getting off for two weeks rent is to her benifit. It is a contract the landlord could take her to court but it is quite unlikely for this amount.
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Hi Sue,
Thanks for your reply.
I called the property agent who leased us the flat. Mum is breaking the lease in the first year. It sounds like there is no break lease clause (according to what the agent just told me). Does it all depend on the landlord? He could be unreasonable, and demand that we find a new tenant for him at $15,000 - the current market rate. And if we can't, then I suppose we are liable to keep paying? My argument is that if mum finds a replacement for herself - then the rent should only be $12,000 and we can easily find someone. But if the landlord demands more money, then it would be his fault if the flat is empty because his price is too high?
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I suggest you talk to the landlord directly. Since the lease contract is valid, any exit on this contract is favor given by the landlord. The objective is to negotiate the "cost" anywhere between sharing a part of the new agent fee,while helping to find a new tenant at new market rate to any amount below the 4 months rent remaining in the contract (e.g forfeiture of 2 months deposit).
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Hi,
Thanks for your reply. We finally got in touch with the landlord, who was overseas. Luckily, he's reasonable - so we just need to find a replacement, but he's asking for $14,000 now. But as you point out, the ball is in his court because we are breaking our contract!
Thanks!
Sam
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slammy, did you find a tenant to take over the contract? we might be interested. you got off lucky, as we just broke our lease too before the year was up and do have to pay the commission to her (2 weeks rent), plus have agents coming through with people all the time and landlord is bumping up the rent $1,500 a month too! Initially she said we would have to pay her a "penalty" of 3 months rent even if we found her a replacement ourselves! Greedy! But even so, feel like I've got my parole letter now! Send me a pm if you are still looking for a tenant, we are going out to look at TC tomorrow cheers.
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Hi Slammy/Pennyh
I think Im in the next boat!!
What if just replacing our flat with someone, to run till end of the contract, who can trust a lot without landlord knowledge?
regards
syed
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Hi Pennyh,
Sorry to take so long to reply... just had a baby on August 2nd!
When my mum wanted to break her lease, I called all the agents in Tung Chung and told them her flat was available. The landlord wanted to increase the rent by $2000 to $14,000 per month - which was still reasonable. We found a tenant to move in almost immediately, as my mum had looked after the flat well so it was in good condition. Because she had lived there for 10 months, she didn't want to pay the commission to the agent for finding a new tenant, and the landlord never requested it. So we got off lucky - mum found a replacement and just moved out and got all her deposit back.
Syed456 - if you replace yourself with another person in the flat and don't tell the landlord... then the lease is still in your name. What if your replacement damage the flat or doesn't pay rent? You are liable then.
Regards,
Sam
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