When a Tenant wants to break a lease early?

If my tenant wants to break my lease agreement early for relocation of work, what should I do? Some say if they are a good tenant let them go without any hassle. What should you do? 

With all the background checking we do it is important to understand as much about our applicants, knowing if they left a tenancy early would be something a landlord  would want to know. A tenancy agreement is a contract between two parties, the Landlord and the Tenant. Allowing the tenant to leave without following the terms of the contract isn’t helping other landlords. If you were checking this tenants reference, would you like to know, they left a tenancy before the fixed term ended? Would that make a difference for you considering  renting to them? 

In BC a fixed term requires both parties to agree to be part of the tenancy until the end of the term. This means the landlord has no right, without cause to evict the tenant before the end of the fixed term, it also means the tenant agrees to rent the property through the end of the fixed term. If the landlord wants to end the tenancy before the fixed term it requires the tenant’s permission and possibly compensation. If a tenant wants to end the agreement early they could be held responsible for rent during the time the unit is vacant and unrented. They can also be required to pay liquidated damages for costs incurred due to them vacating the property early. As a property manager we charge clients a leasing fee to find tenants, and this is a cost a tenant could be required to pay in a liquidated damages clause. It is important to have these additional clauses in the agreement and explain them to the tenant before they move into the property.   

It is important to know even though a tenant vacates the property during the fixed term, a Landlord has a responsibility to mitigate their loss which means they must do everything to find a new tenant. If they find a tenant to rent the property immediately following the tenant leaving, the previous tenant would not be responsible for rent moving forward as the Landlord has not experienced a loss. The tenant could still be held responsible for the liquidated damages clause in the tenancy agreement. It is important for Landlords to enforce the agreement and for tenants to understand they are required to adhere to all the terms of the tenancy agreement. 

Need assistance managing your rental property, Cartref Properties can assist you, call today to discuss your needs. You can find more information about us at: www.cartrefproperties.com