Landlord/tenant notice?

[Zukat]

I have signed a 1 year contract in February 2015, now in beginning of November the landlord contacted me and gave 3 months notice, as a new tenant will be moving in February 2016. Since then I started looking for a place and got one from January 2016 and gave landlord notice. Question is am I still responsible for payment of rent for January, as the main reason I had to look for the place is because of the termination of the lease agreement. I know there is CPA section 14, 20 business day notice with "reasonable" penalties, but not my intention to follow that route...

 

[Sinbad]

I have signed a 1 year contract in February 2015, now in beginning of November the landlord contacted me and gave 3 months notice, as a new tenant will be moving in February 2016. Since then I started looking for a place and got one from January 2016 and gave landlord notice. Question is am I still responsible for payment of rent for January, as the main reason I had to look for the place is because of the termination of the lease agreement. I know there is CPA section 14, 20 business day notice with "reasonable" penalties, but not my intention to follow that route...

Yes you are liable to pay your full contracted rent.
Leaving early is not a reason to not pay.

 

[envo]

Yes you are liable to pay your full contracted rent.
Leaving early is not a reason to not pay.

That's BS. Stop lying to people. The landlord gave notice first.

It depends on the cancellation clause in your agreement. If there is no such clause, the only way you can end your lease early without being in breach of contract is if your landlord agrees to it or if your landlord is in material breach of the lease (for example, by failing to maintain the outside of the property, as agreed in the contract, and this makes it impossible for you to remain on the property. But you will have to prove this, though).

You can still end the lease early in terms of the Consumer Protection Act [68 0f 2008]. Section 14 allows for the tenant to prematurely cancel a fixed lease [by given 20 business days notice] however it should be noted that the landlord may impose a reasonable cancellation penalty . It should be noted that this penalty amount should not be to punish the tenant but reflect reasonable costs in securing a replacement tenant.

 

[crackersa]

That's BS. Stop lying to people. The landlord gave notice first.

[/b]

sheesh, that's a bit harsh, accusing of lying when they actually might have just simply been misinformed?

 

[Slootvreter]

Yes you are liable to pay your full contracted rent.
Leaving early is not a reason to not pay.

True, but the landlord is more than likely to find any ridiculous reason not to refund your deposit, so I'd leave a month early and once gone, tell the landlord to keep the deposit for that rent.

Just laugh at their huffing and puffing and legal threats.

 

[Zukat]

True, but the landlord is more than likely to find any ridiculous reason not to refund your deposit, so I'd leave a month early and once gone, tell the landlord to keep the deposit for that rent.

Just laugh at their huffing and puffing and legal threats.

Lol, actually I am in good relationship with the landlord and only looking for a legal way to handle this matter

 

[Slootvreter]

Lol, actually I am in good relationship with the landlord and only looking for a legal way to handle this matter

It's always a good relationship until the day of the inspection and them saying this and that and we'll need to keep your deposit to cover that. My experience though, so don't take it TOO seriously.

 

[Zukat]

It's always a good relationship until the day of the inspection and them saying this and that and we'll need to keep your deposit to cover that. My experience though, so don't take it TOO seriously.

I hear you and actually did have such an experience in the past because the landlord didnt have the money to pay it back, so suddenly there were a lot of "issues" uncovered during the inspection... I guess that is another downside of being a tenant (deposit in 60% of times is a bonus for the landlord).

 

[Sinbad]

That's BS. Stop lying to people. The landlord gave notice first.

It depends on the cancellation clause in your agreement. If there is no such clause, the only way you can end your lease early without being in breach of contract is if your landlord agrees to it or if your landlord is in material breach of the lease (for example, by failing to maintain the outside of the property, as agreed in the contract, and this makes it impossible for you to remain on the property. But you will have to prove this, though).

You can still end the lease early in terms of the Consumer Protection Act [68 0f 2008]. Section 14 allows for the tenant to prematurely cancel a fixed lease [by given 20 business days notice] however it should be noted that the landlord may impose a reasonable cancellation penalty . It should be noted that this penalty amount should not be to punish the tenant but reflect reasonable costs in securing a replacement tenant.

Yes, the landlord gave 3 MONTHS' notice, giving the tenant ample warning that the lease was going to end AS SIGNED on 1 February. Decent of the guy. He could have done the same thing on 1 January and been perfectly within his rights.
Now, the tenant wants to end the lease early, but the landlord does not have a tenant for January if that's the case - his new tenant starts 1 February.
Who bears that loss? The tenant has contracted to pay rent until 1 February.

 

[Sinbad]

That's BS. Stop lying to people. The landlord gave notice first.

It depends on the cancellation clause in your agreement. If there is no such clause, the only way you can end your lease early without being in breach of contract is if your landlord agrees to it or if your landlord is in material breach of the lease (for example, by failing to maintain the outside of the property, as agreed in the contract, and this makes it impossible for you to remain on the property. But you will have to prove this, though).

You can still end the lease early in terms of the Consumer Protection Act [68 0f 2008]. Section 14 allows for the tenant to prematurely cancel a fixed lease [by given 20 business days notice] however it should be noted that the landlord may impose a reasonable cancellation penalty . It should be noted that this penalty amount should not be to punish the tenant but reflect reasonable costs in securing a replacement tenant.

And in terms of your bold - reasonable cost in securing a replacement tenant in this case would be 1 month's rent, as the landlord cannot install a tenant for 1 month.
People like you are part of the reason I really hate renting my cottage out. Bunch of entitled ****s think they can just **** around with legalese while screwing the intent of the lease agreement over.

 

[flippakitten]

Have you checked with your Landlord?
Maybe he will be cool with it and the other person wants to move in sooner anyway.

You would however be liable for January's lease.

 

[Zukat]

Yes i did, unfortunately tenant is only coming in feb. Will have to take the knock on this one, thanx everyone for the advise.

 

[saturnz]

True, but the landlord is more than likely to find any ridiculous reason not to refund your deposit, so I'd leave a month early and once gone, tell the landlord to keep the deposit for that rent.

Just laugh at their huffing and puffing and legal threats.

and in response to that practise landlords now ask for 2 months deposit.

 

[Nokkie]

Always refer back to the contract. Thats why they are there.

 

[Nokkie]

And in terms of your bold - reasonable cost in securing a replacement tenant in this case would be 1 month's rent, as the landlord cannot install a tenant for 1 month.
People like you are part of the reason I really hate renting my cottage out. Bunch of entitled ****s think they can just **** around with legalese while screwing the intent of the lease agreement over.

+1

 

[Sinbad]

True, but the landlord is more than likely to find any ridiculous reason not to refund your deposit, so I'd leave a month early and once gone, tell the landlord to keep the deposit for that rent.

Just laugh at their huffing and puffing and legal threats.

That is illegal by the way.
If you did it to me you'd be at small claims court or the rental tribunal before you knew what hit you.

 

[Nokkie]

That is illegal by the way.
If you did it to me you'd be at small claims court or the rental tribunal before you knew what hit you.

Rentee's acting like the law aint there... No wonder you guys have such a bad name in the industry...

I agree to what Sinbad is saying

 

[Beachless]

Why not discuss it with the owner?
He might at least meet you in the middle but like others have said he followed the agreed process and so should you.

 

[Slootvreter]

That is illegal by the way.
If you did it to me you'd be at small claims court or the rental tribunal before you knew what hit you.

Did it 8 years ago because the landlord was a POS, and a legal threat and a phone call was the last I heard from him. This was a letting agency, not a private owner.

 

[flippakitten]

Did it 8 years ago because the landlord was a POS, and a legal threat and a phone call was the last I heard from him. This was a letting agency, not a private owner.

Probably realized the cost and time would be more than rent.

I had a landlord that refused to refund my deposit and when I asked for evidence of why, they sent me images of a place that wasn't even mine.

I decided not to even try as I was in Moz at the time.

There are a lot of a hole landlords out there thank think cause they own a property to rent they can push you around.
If you have an issue with renting out a property and then complain about a few dirty finger prints on the wall and claiming you need to repaint the whole house, you're an a-hole land lord. The tenant probably paid you 50 grand upwards for the year, you can cover those costs.