Early Tenancy

If an agreement to end the fixed term at an earlier date cannot be reached, both the tenant and the landlord remain bound by the contract. If the tenant decides to break the lease by abandoning the premises and no longer paying rent during the term of the fixed lease, the landlord can take legal action against the tenant. The landlord could claim the unpaid rent for the rest of the agreement or, until the premises are re-rented, whichever comes sooner.

The Residential Tenancies Act does not require notice to be given to end a fixed term tenancy, even if the tenancy agreement states otherwise. However, a tenant may want to consider giving notice as a courtesy to the landlord, especially if they are leaving before the end of the term. A landlord is under a legal duty to cut her losses in this situation. This means that the landlord must do all that is reasonable to minimize loss. If the landlord has advance notice that a tenant is leaving, she could look for a new tenant and, thereby, lose less rent. If a landlord does not look for a new tenant and takes legal action against the tenant, she may not be able to recover the full amount of rent lost because she did nothing to try to minimize that amount.

If a landlord evicts a tenant before the end of the agreement, the tenant can claim compensation from the landlord.

June 2006