Submitted by Clodahl on Wed, 02/25/2009 - 13:55
I signed a 1 yr lease, putting down first and last months rent back in September. I was laid off in December, and continued to pay rent with the severance I received while I looked for work. I accepted a position in CT this week, and thus had to relocate.
My landlord expects me to pay rent until the apartment finds a new tenant, I realize I'm under a contract, but is there an exception for this if I needed to relocate for a job? It's also a conflict because the landlord is out of the country for almost the entire month of March and it doesn't appear that my roommate is even listing the available room on craigslist to find a new tenant.
Do I have any rights to protect me from paying this rent month after rent? Thx!
Editor's Response
Essentially, you are asking if Massachusetts law allows you to break your lease in hardship situations. The answer is no. You are bound by the terms of the contract you signed and may still be responsible for rent until the end of the term. (In your case the situation is complicated by the presence of a roommate. BOTH of you are likely responsible for the rent until the end of the term.)
However (if you AND your roommate leave), Massachusetts law obligates your landlord to make reasonable efforts to rent the apartment to someone else and, thus, eliminate or reduce your liability for the rent owed for the remaining term of the lease. If you find a suitable person to assume the lease, and the landlord refuses, you may not be liable for the entire term of the lease. Additionally, if you ‘break the lease’ and the landlord does not take reasonable steps to fill the vacancy, you may not be liable for the full term of the lease.
One final note: Just because you think your landlord is not acting reasonably does not mean a court will agree with you. A landlord is not obligated to rent to the person you nominate to assume your lease. The landlord may have valid reasons for not renting to that person, such as a poor credit history or bad references from former landlords. In short, breaking a lease is risky business.
For more information or to post a question, visit our MA Landlord and Tenant Law Discussion Forum.