laurenplus

Leaving Before Your Lease Is UpTenants who need to moveout early have three options: negotiating with the landlord to end the leaseearly, breaking the lease, and subletting.

Mutual Agreement to EndThe landlord and tenant maymutually agree to end a tenancy at any time without further responsibility byeither party. The landlord may be willing to sign an early termination to avoiddisputes between tenants, to avoid court costs of the eviction process, becausethe tenant offers to pay a fee, or because the landlord would like to do workon the apartment. If the tenant has a written lease, the agreement to terminatemust be in writing. Even if the tenant does not have a written lease, it isstill a good idea to put the agreement to terminate in writing to protect bothparties. Sample mutual termination forms are available at Tenant Resource Center.
If the lease requires apayment, the tenant cannot be required to pay more than the landlord's actualand reasonable loss (including lost rent and advertising costs, but notcompensation for time spent re-renting the apartment). If the tenant pays a feeto break the lease, and the landlord re-rents the apartment immediately afterthe tenant vacates and with no advertising expenses, the tenant is entitled torecover the entire fee.

Breaking Your LeaseAll tenants may break theirleases, even if the landlord says that subletting is the only option. If youwant to break your lease, write a letter to your landlord (keeping a copy foryourself) stating that you are breaking your lease and the date that you aremoving out. Remind the landlord that s/he has a duty to mitigate (lessen)damages by making efforts to re-rent the apartment as soon as possible. Youwill have to pay rent until a new tenant signs a lease and moves in, but afterthat you will no longer be responsible for the apartment, unlike a sublet.

Reasons To Break Your LeaseContrary to popular belief,there are no provisions in Wisconsinor local laws that permit tenants to break a lease if they buy a house or get ajob transfer. It may, however, be possible to negotiate with the landlord toinclude this type of provision in the original lease agreement.

MitigationThe landlord has theobligation to mitigate the damages by trying to find a new tenant. (Wis. Stats. 704.29 (2))

• The landlord must advertise your apartment the     same way s/he normally advertises vacant apartments.
• The landlord must show your apartment to     interested tenants. Although s/he cannot try to steer prospective tenants     away from your apartment to other vacant apartments, s/he is not required     to rent your apartment first.
• The landlord may charge you the actual costs     associated with re-renting your apartment, but not for time spent.

If the landlord is not trying to mitigate

• Compile evidence such as newspapers in which     your apartment was not advertised but should have been, statements from     people who tried calling about your apartment, and pictures of renovations     in progress. (See below.)
• Send a letter to your landlord (keeping a copy     for yourself) detailing your evidence of his/her failure to mitigate, and     state that this failure means that you are no longer obligated to pay rent.
• If the landlord takes you to small claims court     for unpaid rent, you will need to prove that s/he failed to mitigate or     that his/her efforts to mitigate were not reasonable, so you should keep     all evidence and correspondence relating to the landlord's failure to     mitigate. (Wis.     Stat. 704.29 (3))

Proving whether the landlord is trying tomitigate

• Look for ads for your apartment in local     newspapers and rental publications.
• Have a friend call to inquire about vacant     apartments to see if the landlord mentions your unit.
• Find out if your landlord has raised the price     of your apartment or changed the lease (for example, now not allowing pets     or smokers). Significantly altering the rental terms in a way that makes     the unit more difficult to rent or less desirable to potential tenants can     be failure to properly mitigate damages.
• Stop by to see if the landlord is renovating or     using your apartment.

Re-renting the apartment yourselfThis is often the fastestway to find a new tenant, especially if you are worried that your landlord willnot try to re-rent the apartment.

• Place ads for your apartment and have people     call you directly.
• Show the apartment yourself.
• Give interested people applications (get them     from the landlord).
• Keep names and phone numbers of interested     tenants so you can follow up with them in case the landlord is trying to     keep people from renting the apartment.

Subletting Your ApartmentIf you sublet you willstill be on the lease, even though you will no longer be living in theapartment. If the person you sublet to does not pay the rent or damages theapartment, you will be financially responsible. Although subletting can berisky, you may want to sublet if you wish to return to the same apartment aftera time away, have a specific friend or relative who wants to move in, or feelthat you'll need to offer an incentive, such as reduced rent, to find someoneto move in.
A sample Sublet AgreementForm is attached.

Issues to consider before subletting

• Landlord Permission. Tenants with year-to-year     leases can sublet without the landlord's permission unless the lease says     otherwise. Check your lease. If you sublet without the landlord's     permission and permission is required in the written lease, the landlord     can evict the sublessees and possibly hold the sublessor (you) liable for     remaining rent payments and damages.
• Landlord Sublet Procedures. Some landlords have specific     procedures which you must follow for sublet permission. Some landlords     require that you advertise, show the apartment, and forward interested     parties to them for approval. Some landlords are willing to show the     apartments. Some landlords demand "sublet fees" as well as the     actual cost of ads. If a flat fee is required, ask in writing for itemized     fees, so you know the actual and reasonable costs. Flat fees over $100 may     be illegal.
• Roommate Permission. If you have roommates, finding     an acceptable sublessee may become an issue with them. All parties on the     lease must agree to any major changes, including adding new tenants. Make     sure that your roommates meet the potential sublessee. Remind your     roommates that they are "jointly and severally" liable, so if     you do not find a sublessee and do not pay the rent, the landlord may try     to evict and/ or collect your rent from them.
• Check out the Possible     Sublessee. You     will want to screen potential sublessees carefully, because you can be     ultimately responsible for unpaid rent or apartment damages. You want to     be assured that the sublessee you find is able to pay the rent and has not     had past rental problems. You may ask for landlord references to find out     if they paid rent late or caused damages in previous apartments. A     landlord may also decide to screen the potential sublessees him- or     herself.
• Sublet Agreements. The single most important step     is using a written sublet agreement. Sample sublet agreements are     available at Tenant      Resource Center.     List all terms of the sublet clearly, such as the starting and ending     dates, amount of rent, and how rent will be paid, the security deposit     arrangement, and who will clean the apartment at the end of the lease or     pay charges to the deposit. Include any particular conditions such as     whether or not the apartment will be furnished, responsibilities like     taking care of plants or pets, and parking.
• Security Deposits. Because you are ultimately     responsible in a sublet agreement, you may want to collect a deposit from     the sublessee. In the event the landlord sues the sublessee and/or you,     you will at least retain some of the sublessee's money. When you collect     the deposit, you can keep it yourself and/or arrange with the landlord in     writing for the deposit you paid to be returned directly to the sublessee.     In some cases, the landlord may charge the sublessee a deposit while     trying to keep the original tenant's deposit. In the cities of Madison and Fitchburg,     this charge is illegal if the total deposit exceeds one month's rent.     Outside the cities of Madison and Fitchburg, landlords     may charge a sublessee any amount for a deposit. The landlord is required     to account for or return the sublessor's deposit within 21 days after the     sublessee moves out. If the sublessee pays you directly, you have to     return or account for their deposit within 21 days after they move out,     and the sublessee has the same remedies against you for illegal     deductions, just as if you were the landlord.
• Check-In. It is wise to have your     sublessee complete a check-in form when they move in to document the     apartment conditions. All tenants must be given at least 7 days after     moving in to complete the check-in form. Have your sublessee note all     problems with the apartment on the form. Then have the sublessee make a     copy of the completed form for him- or herself. Give the original to the     landlord within several days of moving and keep a copy for your records.
• Check-Out. Make an appointment to check     out with your landlord before the new sublessee moves in. You also need to     fill out a check-out form. Inform your landlord in writing that you     completed your own checkout form. Write your forwarding address on the     sublet form so that your deposit is returned to the proper address. Make a     copy of the completed check-out form and give the original to the landlord.     If you believe you may have difficulty getting your deposit back, have a     witness (not a roommate or relative) inspect with you and sign the     completed check out form. You can also take photos to document the     condition of the unit.

Ending Your Lease VocabularyBreak your lease - End a tenancy early by moving outwithout the agreement of the landlord
Mitigate Lessen orminimize - SubletMake an agreement with a new tenant to assume responsibility for the lease. Ifthe new tenant fails to fulfil responsibilities, the original tenant remainsresponsible.
Sublessor Original tenant
Sublessee New tenant
Jointly and severallyliable Allco-tenants, sublessors and sublessees are equally responsible for all terms ofthe rental agreement, including for example the full payment of rent.
Damages The amount of money a tenant or landlord may be entitled towhen the other breaks a lease or other agreement, including unpaid rent andutilities, and damages to the apartment

Source from http://www.tenantresourcecenter.org