Breaking a Florida Lease Contract Legally- When it comes to Orlando real estate law, breaking a lease is completely legal in certain situations but you have to go about it the right way. If not, you could risk facing some pretty serious financial as well as legal consequences. You should also know that it is neither quick nor easy. There are laws in place to protect both lessors and leas-sees.
Before starting the process of breaking your lease here are a few things to think about.
1- Find out what your rights are– Read your lease option agreement thoroughly, knowing what you can or can’t do is hands down the most important part of breaking a lease agreement. Find out what the tenant laws are in your state, this is something that can easily be found by doing a simple Google search. Print out anything that can potentially pertain to your specific situation.
Sometimes agreements will require you to do something as simple as giving the landlord written notice that you want out. However, most of the time this approach will mean forfeiting your deposit and still having to pay on the remainder of the lease. This option doesn’t appeal to most people because it’s expensive. However, if you’re breaking your lease because of problems with maintenance something wrong with the property, then you have a much better chance of getting out at no additional cost, and depending on the situation you may be entitled to getting your deposit back.
2- Keep good records- If you’re in a situation where there are safety issues involved or the maintenance isn’t being kept up according to the agreement, then you’re most likely able to break your lease with no problem at all and without any financial repercussion. It is extremely important, however, that you keep records and collect any proof of the things that are happening to make you want to break your lease. For example: health code issues, lack of maintenance, safety issues, etc. You should take photos and gather any other kind of proof that you can. Health code and building code violations are public records and you should have no problem getting this documentation online.
Having proof is essential in case your landlord wants to settle things in a court of law.
3-Be nice- Once you find out where you stand legally and you’ve collected any proof that you will require to prove your case you should approach the landlord in a nice way if at all possible. Before sending out any letters to him of what your intentions are, try appealing to his compassionate side [if he has one]. Many landlords will appreciate the “heads up” and this can make things a lot easier on you. Because you are being polite in the situation, you may find that your landlord is willing to work with you and find another tenant or waive certain of your obligations.
Even if you’re able to settle things with your landlord amicably and he tells you don’t worry about giving written notice, you should still follow all the legal steps that are spelled out in the contract including any written notices, etc.
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