Terminating a Lease Early

[MrBigMistake]

Good day, everyone.

I signed a 12-month lease in January, but terminated it in May after I fell ill and had to return home to be taken care of by my parents (****ing embarrassing for a 25-year-old)

Anyway, there's a cancellation clause in my lease that says I can end the contract early WITHOUT REASON if I give 20 days' notice, pay two month's rent, and pay the agent's commission for the remainder of the lease. I have done ALL of that, yet my landlord refuses to refund my deposit, and said he'll take me to court to force me to pay rent until he finds another tenant.

Because I realised my actions are an inconvenience, illness or not, I decided to tell him why I'm leaving instead of exercising my right to terminate with no reason. His response? "Please find another tenant to take over your lease in order to maintain a healthy exit."

I've read a lot of conflicting information online. Some state he is well within his rights to recover lost rental income from me, others say he should only charge a reasonable cancellation fee, but only after he has found a new tenant.

All of this is very strange to me. I've asked friends who've terminated leases early, and all they lost was their deposit. Am I just dealing with a prick, or is this actually what the law allows my landlord to do?

Are there any legal experts on here who can help? Paid the cancellation fee last week, but the guy said I should expect another bill at the end of the month.

I'll upload screen grabs from the early cancellation clause as well.

 

[MrBigMistake]

 

[Grubscrew]

I would contact the rental tribunal.

 

[savage]

Well those two clauses contradict each other. So yes, no easy way to go here. I would concur, rental tribunal if the agent is unable / unwilling to sort this out to a satisfactory result.

 

[MrBigMistake]

* sigh * I was hoping it wouldn't come to that. Cool. Thanks for the advice. Quick question, how do the clauses contradict each other?

 

[x32]

Section 14 of the Consumer Protection Act applies to residential lease agreements. In short, the section as applied to lease agreements, says that a tenant has a right to cancel the lease early, subject to the payment of a reasonable cancellation penalty.

Two month's rent and agent's commission on a 12 month lease is a more than reasonable cancellation penalty. The landlord is not entitled to withhold your deposit as an additional penalty and will not be successful if he tries to claim further amounts.

My suggestion would be to make written demand for the refund of your deposit and threaten further action if the landlord does not comply. If the landlord refuses to refund the deposit after that, then it would probably be a good idea to approach an attorney or lodge a complaint with the RHT.

 

[crackersa]

to bad you couldn't do what I did and leave the country. I'm getting emails asking if I am going to continue to pay rent. told the agents several times I will not be returning. they don't seem to get it.

 

[MrBigMistake]

to bad you couldn't do what I did and leave the country. I'm getting emails asking if I am going to continue to pay rent. told the agents several times I will not be returning. they don't seem to get it.

LMFAO! People always told me I look Nigerian (whatever that means). Gonna haul ass and get the hell out of this country.

 

[savage]

Well, they dont. Sorry, got confused and they are handling two different things.

Morale of the story,
1) No landlord can BY LAW use your deposit in lie of rent owned - it is point blank illegal;
2) Given clause 15, you are NOT responsible for rent until he finds another tenant (this is a very strange and very 'none standard' clause in a rental agreement, but it is your ticket out from what face of it - the clause SPECIFICALLY STATES the LANDLORD deems the 20 day notice period sufficient time to find a new tenant;
3) Generally in terms of early terminations, it is a gesture of good faith to get a new tenant yourself, to take the lease over from you and spare the land lord the hassles of getting a new tenant (that's how it is normally done), but with clause 15, you are certainly not under this obligation.

Basically, the landlord cut his own throat by adding clause 15 to the contract. If that wasn't there, you would have been liable for payments until such time that there is a new tenant to take over the lease (as the landlord is claiming), but your landlord is clearly either ignoring clause 15, nor forgot about it.

What is more than likely happening here is that the landlord thought 20 days would be sufficient to get a new tenant, but now is unable to do so after you've given notice (for what ever reason). Given the wording in the contract, that is NOT your problem, and whether the landlord does or does not have a tenant to take occupancy after you, is irrelevant. Clause 15 is not binding to you (or the landlord) having a new tenant signed.

Unless there is anything else in the contract of significant value, I wouldn't be worried if I was you. Rental tribunal should sort this out quickly, the contract and wording is very clear and your landlord is already breaking the law by refusing to return your deposit (which he can not by law do, especially not in terms of rent, apparently, owned.).

PS: Also take note, your deposit should have been kept in an interest bearing account. Your are entitled to statements to prove that, and you are entitled to your deposit PLUS what ever interest the deposit gained whilst in the hands of the landlord. Given the short period for the lease I don't think there will be a lot of interest, but I'd still ask for a statement to just make his life a little bit harder than what it currently is. Seems he deserve it.

 

[ShareMosselBay]

Section 14 of the Consumer Protection Act applies to residential lease agreements. In short, the section as applied to lease agreements, says that a tenant has a right to cancel the lease early, subject to the payment of a reasonable cancellation penalty.

Two month's rent and agent's commission on a 12 month lease is a more than reasonable cancellation penalty. The landlord is not entitled to withhold your deposit as an additional penalty and will not be successful if he tries to claim further amounts.

My suggestion would be to make written demand for the refund of your deposit and threaten further action if the landlord does not comply. If the landlord refuses to refund the deposit after that, then it would probably be a good idea to approach an attorney or lodge a complaint with the RHT.

^^This.

 

[infscrtyrisk]

Two month's rent and agent's commission on a 12 month lease is a more than reasonable cancellation penalty. The landlord is not entitled to withhold your deposit as an additional penalty and will not be successful if he tries to claim further amounts.

In your opinion it may be, but the RHT will need to make a decision on this. Fact is that the landlord will incur expenses, because the place need to be advertised, shown to numerous tyre-kickers, and then (hopefully) finally let. There is an income gap between the time that the landlord last secured a payment from the old tenant and when he gets payment from the new tenant. In the light of the lease duration, this is unanticipated loss of income, which the landlord is contractually entitled to recover.

 

[MrBigMistake]

In your opinion it may be, but the RHT will need to make a decision on this. Fact is that the landlord will incur expenses, because the place need to be advertised, shown to numerous tyre-kickers, and then (hopefully) finally let. There is an income gap between the time that the landlord last secured a payment from the old tenant and when he gets payment from the new tenant. In the light of the lease duration, this is unanticipated loss of income, which the landlord is contractually entitled to recover.

Okay, but why would he put the clause in there only to turn around and refuse to comply? That makes zero sense. Maybe the agent drew up the contract up for him, but still. Surely he has no right to ignore a clause in the contract? The clause expressly states that 20 days' notice and two months' rent and a pro rata refund of the agent's commission is enough.

 

[BrightBlue]

Your landlord is seriously taking advantage of you
In my lease, all one has to do is give 30 day notice for termination. No penalty at all.

 

[infscrtyrisk]

Okay, but why would he put the clause in there only to turn around and refuse to comply? That makes zero sense. Maybe the agent drew up the contract up for him, but still. Surely he has no right to ignore a clause in the contract? The clause expressly states that 20 days' notice and two months' rent and a pro rata refund of the agent's commission is enough.

Well the landlord may have his reasons, and may have incurred other expenses. Things that come to mind (and I am not suggesting that you have actually done this) are expenses which I have personally accrued due to tenants:

The place could have been left in a untenantable state due to:

• Broken / damaged items:
  
  Windows cracked / broken / removed;
  Doors that look like they have sparred with Mike Tyson;
  Floortiles that have served as dumbell stands; and
  Nails in the walls, nail holes and large chunks of plaster ripped off the walls due to "No More Nails";​

• Dirt and filth:
  
  Windows that hadn't been cleaned in over 2 years;
  12 month old stove and oven that had ostensibly worked hard but never been cleaned -- had to be scrapped and replaced; and
  I had to get someone to pick up and haul two bakkie loads worth of tenant's rubbish (papers, toenail clippings, plastics, broken appliances, used toothpicks, dirty car oil, dirty nappies, broken furniture and 50 litres of human hair wads) to the municipal rubbish dump -- all from one tenant (2 bedroomed unit, no garden);
  ​

• Pest-control Geniuses:
  
  Jeyes Fluid dripped down the walls onto the skirting boards to "kill the ants"; and
  Knotty pine ceiling boards that were removed (and never replaced) in order to catch a gecko;​

• Engineering Geniuses
  
  One Einstein discovered that the only way that he could get his Kingsize bed in (and subsequently out) of the bedroom was to dismantle the staircase, which he did, but he broke the bolts, selectively replacing only the strategic ones with ones that did not match;
  Another one decided to rewire the kitchen with twinflex in order to place her plugs against the opposite wall;
  A piece of zinc roofing had been placed on the lounge floor to make a fire (they were cold, and their electricity was cut due to non-payment). They placed the zinc on the floor "to avoid burning the carpet"; and
  The bathroom tap handle (Cobra) came off. Instead of reporting it, she applied a vice-grip every night to the remaining brass spline, for three months. She then called one night at 22H50 because she couldn't close it.​

• Entrepreneurial Geniuses:
  
  Tenant removed every single one of the LED energy-saver light bulbs in the unit; and
  Another tenant didn't pay a cent towards rent for 4 months straight, decided to squat and consequently faced a hefty increase in monthly rent. He promptly hired 6 Zozo huts, placed them in the garden and sublet them to 6 other families;​

Have you asked him for a breakdown of expenses that he may have reasonably incurred?

 

[Grubscrew]

Well the landlord may have his reasons, and may have incurred other expenses. Things that come to mind (and I am not suggesting that you have actually done this) are expenses which I have personally accrued due to tenants:

The place could have been left in a untenantable state due to:

• Broken / damaged items:
  
  Windows cracked / broken / removed;
  Doors that look like they have sparred with Mike Tyson;
  Floortiles that have served as dumbell stands; and
  Nails in the walls, nail holes and large chunks of plaster ripped off the walls due to "No More Nails";​

• Dirt and filth:
  
  Windows that hadn't been cleaned in over 2 years;
  12 month old stove and oven that had ostensibly worked hard but never been cleaned -- had to be scrapped and replaced; and
  I had to get someone to pick up and haul two bakkie loads worth of tenant's rubbish (papers, toenail clippings, plastics, broken appliances, used toothpicks, dirty car oil, dirty nappies, broken furniture and 50 litres of human hair wads) to the municipal rubbish dump -- all from one tenant (2 bedroomed unit, no garden);
  ​

• Pest-control Geniuses:
  
  Jeyes Fluid dripped down the walls onto the skirting boards to "kill the ants"; and
  Knotty pine ceiling boards that were removed (and never replaced) in order to catch a gecko;​

• Engineering Geniuses
  
  One Einstein discovered that the only way that he could get his Kingsize bed in (and subsequently out) of the bedroom was to dismantle the staircase, which he did, but he broke the bolts, selectively replacing only the strategic ones with ones that did not match;
  Another one decided to rewire the kitchen with twinflex in order to place her plugs against the opposite wall;
  A piece of zinc roofing had been placed on the lounge floor to make a fire (they were cold, and their electricity was cut due to non-payment). They placed the zinc on the floor "to avoid burning the carpet"; and
  The bathroom tap handle (Cobra) came off. Instead of reporting it, she applied a vice-grip every night to the remaining brass spline, for three months. She then called one night at 22H50 because she couldn't close it.​

• Entrepreneurial Geniuses:
  
  Tenant removed every single one of the LED energy-saver light bulbs in the unit; and
  Another tenant didn't pay a cent towards rent for 4 months straight, decided to squat and consequently faced a hefty increase in monthly rent. He promptly hired 6 Zozo huts, placed them in the garden and sublet them to 6 other families;​

Have you asked him for a breakdown of expenses that he may have reasonably incurred?

You have had some bad luck with tenants.

 

[infscrtyrisk]

You have had some bad luck with tenants.

Yes, and I have also had some good ones, it has been about 50/50.

 

[Alz25]

Hi guys wondering if someone could help me. I signed a 12 months lease and contract ends 28th Feb 2018. I gave notice to estate agency that manages the property beginning of Feb that we will be moving out end of Feb when our lease expires. Although in our lease agreement it states we need to give 2 months notice within that lease agreement period if we want to move . We now have to pay a penalty fee for leaving and only giving 1 months notice yet there is another tenant willing to move in end of Feb to replace us.

Are we entitled to pay the fee?

 

[airborne]

I think they are pulling a fast one if there is a tenant already lined up. The penalty is to cover their potential loss due to short notice for finding a new tenant, if there is a tenant lined up then no loss incurred and you can't reasonably be held liable to pay any penalty.

As with many things if you stand up firmly and argue with logic they will no doubt back down.

 

[binloud]

Sorry to resurrect a dead thread, going through a similar experience and wanted to get a second opinion here. Have a lease for 1 year which ends 31 Oct, I just bought a house and get occupation 1 October I want to terminate the lease 1 month early, so asked. The property group I am dealing with says no the landlord says I must pay the penalty ie 2 months rental. So basically I said no ill obviously rather pay rental until termination, 1 month vs 2.

My question is is 2 months penalty really a "reasonable amount' for terminating 1 month early? Now the place is just going to be vacant for 1 month for no reason other than greed and laziness. Didn't even get the option to find a suitable replacement.

 

[mattrudlles]

Sorry to resurrect a dead thread, going through a similar experience and wanted to get a second opinion here. Have a lease for 1 year which ends 31 Oct, I just bought a house and get occupation 1 October I want to terminate the lease 1 month early, so asked. The property group I am dealing with says no the landlord says I must pay the penalty ie 2 months rental. So basically I said no ill obviously rather pay rental until termination, 1 month vs 2.

My question is is 2 months penalty really a "reasonable amount' for terminating 1 month early? Now the place is just going to be vacant for 1 month for no reason other than greed and laziness. Didn't even get the option to find a suitable replacement.

I'm afraid that is what you are left with now. Remember, this is a contract after all is said and done. Perhaps you could actively find a tenant yourself and provide the landlord with a tenant to start in the last month? Provided they are happy with the tenant.