The house I'm leasing is for sale. Can I terminate my lease early? (I live in TX)

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AustinTX

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I have been leasing a home for 15 months. The original lease period was 12 months and I renewed for 11 months. I'm 3 months into the renewal. I've just been informed that the owner is planning to sell the house. This means there will be realtor showings. I work from a home office and do not want people in the house during the day while I am working (or evenings and weekends). I have a busy schedule and three children and feel it is an invasion of my privacy to have to allow strangers into my house. The identical house is for lease directly across the street from the house I am leasing. I don't mind moving and will most have to anyway when my lease renewal is up. Given the circumstances, can I legally terminate my lease early? I live in Texas.
 
No, you cannot legally terminate your lease early for the reasons you state.

First of all, accept the fact that this isn't your house. It's the landlords. They can, of course, place it on the market to sell should they wish to do so. This does not negate your lease contract.

However, they must follow the same rules for notifying you regarding showings that they would need to in regards to entering the rental property to do non-emergency repairs. They must give you reasonable notice of their intent to do this. If this amount of time is not spelled out in specific detail in your state, the law assumes reasonable notice to be a 24 hour notice.

If the landlord owns the empty rental across the street you can, of course, ask if you can move over there. Some landlords would prefer to show a house without a tenant in place. However, the landlord does not have to comply with this request.

Gail
 
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