Breaking a Lease Breaking my Lease because of Safety

[Claire]

Jurisdiction

Georgia

Hello,

I am currently renting a home through a property management company. I moved-in in July. My lease does not end until June of next year. Unfortunately, the house got broken into last week. All my electronics were taken, and the house was turn upside down. I do understand that it is not the Landlord fault, but I am so scared for my life. I am not able to sleep at night. I ask the landlord if I can move out and she said I will be responsible for paying rent up until January because that will be the end of my 60 days notice, but I also have to pay an early termination fee of $1750. I understand that is what was said in my lease. I am not moving to another house or apartment in the same city or state. I am moving completely out of the State. Is there a way for me to not have to pay both the rent up till January and the early termination fee as well?

 

[adjusterjack]

There is no way you can breach your contract without suffering some sort of financial consequences. However, there is a way to limit (but not eliminate) those financial consequences.

You can simply pack up and leave without notice and not pay anything more to the landlord.

In most states (and you haven't mentioned yours) the landlord is required by law to mitigate his damages by re-renting as soon as reasonably possible. Residential landlords tend to do that quickly rather than having a unit sit empty with no money coming in.

Once it's re-rented, the landlord can only charge you for the rent from your move out date to the re-rent date plus the cost of any damage that you left behind. Current rent and your security deposit might cover that so you might never hear from the landlord again.

The downside is that the default might be reported to the credit bureaus and landlord data bases, could also result in a lawsuit that you could very well lose.

You'll have to choose between continuing to pay after you move out or taking your chances while your money stays in your own pockets.

By the way, did you have renter's insurance. If you didn't, now you know why you should have had it.