Rental Agreement Question

[RickyTan3]

Asking for friend because no one seems to have the same answer asking around.

Friend needs to leave rental unit, has been there for about 3 years, recently signed another 1 year lease. However there was some jumble up in payment method and the rental agency dated 2 months difference from the start because of the payment method swap.

There is about 6 months left remaining from the contract.

He wants to leave on good terms and is wondering what is the real early cancellation penalty.

[320icar]

Why doesn’t he ask the rental company not trying to give a smartass comment, but I bet they have the answer

[parm104]

If he's been renting for 3 years, it should be pretty easy for him to prove that he renewed on a certain date every year...

The RTB does not leave room for "early-cancellation fees." Either your rent for the remaining term or you abandon the lease early and are liable for any loss incurred by the Landlord. This is a contractual point than anything else.

Landlord will have a duty to mitigate his/her loses however and will have to attempt to rent the place out to someone else and prove that he/she was unable to find a tenant to fill in "your friend's" shoes.

[SSM_DC5]

Originally Posted by 320icar

Why doesn’t he ask the rental company not trying to give a smartass comment, but I bet they have the answer

Because due diligence.


Parm pretty much explained it, but here's a link for your friend to read up on himself. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/h.../tenant-notice

[320icar]

From my experience in the past when I left a place, even though I gave a full notice on time (and the rental company tried to sue me for not giving notice blah blah, it’s ok I won that case. Fuck you Capreit)

- if you leave early, you are still on hook for the contract.
- if you give a 30 day notice, leave and they can flip your rental right away so the unit never goes empty, it’s all good
- if it takes 3 months to fill your old unit, you may have to pay for those 3 months of rent etc.

I assume it would have been in the contract? Not sure I’m not good with that stuff