Option to Terminate Lease (Santa Clara, Lafayette: flat fee, sublease, apartments)

[MajorDMP]

Greetings,

We are reaching the 8th month on our 1 year apartment lease and thinking about moving to a rental home nearby. We could wait until out lease is up at the end of May but fear the market will be overwhelmed with people looking to rent and may miss an opportunity to move into an area that we want.

In our lease agreement, theres is an option to terminate with a one time flat fee. In all my years of living in apartments, I've never had to terminate a lease prior to its completion.

Has anyone gone through such an exercise and was there any pitfalls when doing so?

Thanks in advance

[beb0p]

You can pay the flat fee, find new tenants to replace you, or just leave and take your chance that your landlord can re-rent it in a timely fashion and you don't owe too much missing rent. If you take the last route, there is naturally a chance your landlord can come for rent that you owe until the end of the lease.

That's basically it. There's not really anything too complex about an early termination.
.

[Eastbaynative]

Ask the landlord if you can get out of the lease early without penalty, sometimes they have people on a waiting list to get in and they won't charge you. Rentals are in high demand. And yes May will more than likely be worse.

[wideworld]

The only time I've broken a lease, I had to pay the (very steep) fee. The kicker was that I had just renewed it a week prior, then suddenly learned I had to move out of state; they had zero sympathy.

The wait list option Easybaynative mentioned is interesting. Worth a shot! I know some places will let you sublease your unit as an alternative, but my last building would not allow it, unfortunately.

[MajorDMP]

Update: I went ahead and signed the option to terminate for a flat fee (two months rent). The apartment is located in Lafayette and current demand is very slow. Eight apartments are available plus soon to be mine. According to the management staff, this is their slowest season and I wasn't willing to gamble on how long it wont take to find a replacement so I just paid them.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

In CA you can legally break your lease. Mandatory fees are not legal. Landlords must mitigate their damages by finding a new tenant asap and only charging you rent until they find a new tenant.

You were ripped off and can sue. The termination clause is not legal. They can only charge you actual out of pocket costs due to your breaking your lease, and they have to make a reasonable effort to find a new tenant asap. And as you know, they can replace you quickly.

I used to manage apartments in Santa Clara.

[MajorDMP]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

In CA you can legally break your lease. Mandatory fees are not legal. Landlords must mitigate their damages by finding a new tenant asap and only charging you rent until they find a new tenant.

You were ripped off and can sue. The termination clause is not legal. They can only charge you actual out of pocket costs due to your breaking your lease, and they have to make a reasonable effort to find a new tenant asap. And as you know, they can replace you quickly.

I used to manage apartments in Santa Clara.

Yes, I am aware but with 7 other units in the same complex similar in sqft and location, i wasn't willing to take the risk of waiting until they could find a new tenant.