Termination of Lease

[nyresident]

My landlord moved out of state and we are renting her house. We signed a one year lease and now she wants to break the lease because she changed her mind about living in another state. There has been no written notice and she wants us to move. She is making us feel guilty about wanting to stay until the end of the lease. What are my rights?

[consigliere]

You were smart to get a written one-year lease.

Unless there's a clause in the lease that permits either party (or just the landlord) to cancel the lease before the end of the lease, your landlord is out of luck.

Also check the lease to see if there's a provision for attorneys' fees. If there is, you can collect your attorneys' fees from the landlord if the landlord tries to evict you and is unsuccessful.

You could also negotiate with the landlord, if you choose to do so. If you can find another place, ask the landlord to pay your moving costs (including installation fees for telephone, cable, internet, etc.), your real estate brokerage fees, the difference between your old rent and your new rent, etc.
 

[brandy10016]

we need to terminate the lease on our studio due to financial and personal reasons (new baby enroute). we have advertised and shown our apartment at our own time and expense and found people willing to take over our current lease or sign a new lease with building management. but building management is not being cooperative (saying they cannot lease it by april 1, but we think they want the new tenant to go through their "exclusive" broker in our building, which will take longer). they are threatening to hold our security deposit for breaking the lease four months early (originally 24-month lease), even though we have potential lessees lined up and calling them. can they hold our deposit? can they hold us to our lease even though we have people willing to re-rent? thanks for any help or advice. :confused: