This is both a bitch and a plea for helpful advice… Recently, my girlfriend and I split up and we are stuck with 10 more months to our lease. We advertised the apartment as a sublet and had many interested potential renters, including one pair who had already looked at an apartment in our building. They weren’t interested in the one they saw, but loved ours, so we contacted the landlord about having them take over our place. He said that he was wary of subletting, and would rather that they took over the lease. They agreed to this (and even the rent increase that he added), and over several weeks, they tried to arrange to meet up with him to sign the new lease. Apparently, he was quite rude to them on the phone during this time, and at one point when they had booked at time to sign the lease, he didn’t show up. Despite all this, they were still interested in the place but as the deadline to move in approached, neither one of us could get a straight answer from the landlord about getting their lease signed. Finally, they had to move on and look for a new place and now the landlord is after me for this months rent. Everyone is telling me that I shouldn’t pay because it’s his fault for dropping the ball with the new tenants while I just want to do what’s right. Please help!!
—Tenant having a bad month
This article appears in Oct 15-21, 2009.
I’m iffy on this one… I can totally understand where you come from though, I have dealt with some shitty landlords. Here’s what I can say: if you are prepared to vacate your premises at the drop of a hat and don’t think you’ll need a referral for another apartment, don’t pay your rent. It’s likely all your landlord will do is kick you out and not give you a recommendation. But you lose your tenant’s rights when you break a lease that way, so you should be prepared for the consequences.
Sorry, you signed a year to year lease and you are responsible. You can give a Notice to Quit three months prior to the end of the term but you are responsible for the year.
You might take him to the Tenancy Board for “dropping the ball” but I doubt it would do any good.
I have to agree with Bro Tim on this one.
Your landlord is being a dick. We just went through this same process and it went rather smoothly. The only stipulation was that WE advertise for the place and WE show it to potential renters – not the superintendant.
The law is on your side. You have the right to vacate your apt. when you find someone to sign a new lease for it dissolving you of your obligations to the existing lease. Your landlord is showing extreme ill will. I would contact the tenancy board.
Anomie, you are wrong. You can find whomever you want but the landlord has to approve. Read the Tenancy Act.
Bro Tim is 100% correct. I’ve had to thoroughly familiarize myself with the tenancy act over the last few years and the responsibility is entirely on the tenant to find a SUITABLE replacement to lease the apartment. And the landlord/superintendant does have to approve of them. If they are taking over the lease they still have to meet the same criteria in order to rent it. That can involve credit checks, references from previous landlords, the whole shebang. If you don’t pay your rent, the landlord can hold you liable for it and can sure for the remainder of your years lease, plus court expenses. You’re also still responsible for any and all damages that occur to you apartment until a new tenant moves in. Be an adult about it and do the right thing. Pay the rent and if you find someone mid-month have them pay half the months rent or something.
For further information call Tenants and Landlords Services.
Ocean, who are they?
The landlord is required to sublet provided a suitable replacement tenant is located by the current tenant (we take ‘suitable’ to mean at least comparable with the current tenant from a reference and credit check perspective). If the landlord ‘drops the ball’ after a suitable replacement tenant has been located then the OPs obligations are met and they can move on. It’s possible the current landlord will take the OP to a Tenancies Board hearing, but provided that suitable replacement tenant was located (and can be proven to be the case) then they’ll lose.
You shouldn’t have spent your money until the lease was signed.
Landlord/ Tenanant > Residential Tenancies > 424-5200 or 1-800-670-4357
if the landlord is interferring with subletting you can challenge to break your lease at Residential Tenancies > 424-5200 or 1-800-670-4357 – as well I am sure this has been very stressful for you and may in fact impact your health and well being – if you can get your doctor to sign to it there is a form you can get from tenancy board for “medical” release from lease where only 30 days notice would be needed…something to look into…….
Ocean the proper term is Nova Scotia Residential Tenancy Board. Thanks for clarifying. I thought it may have been a private citizen’s concern group.
You could always try what worked for me a while back, when I was a renter. I simply contacted my landlord, told him my financial situation had changed & I wasn’t able to pay the rent anymore, but I could give him about a third of it each month & if he would let me stay there, I would pay off my balance when I got back on my feet. He had me out the door so fast I didn’t have to dust my stuff off.
One lease cancelled, by mutual agreement .
Susanle63: “as well I am sure this has been very stressful for you and may in fact impact your health and well being”.
I think ploys like this are exactly why there’s traditionally some tension between landlords and tenants. My suggestion is that all parties just play by the rules rather than silliness like this.
Welcome to Halifax! The landlords I’ve dealt with are completely incompetent or fraud artists.
And some tenants are scam artists that abuse thes system for a free place to stay and then trash it. There are good and bad landlords and good and crappy tenants.
I had to get out of a lease once so I went to my Dr and told her that I was so stressed out that I couldn’t afford my rent due to life changes and that I had found a cheaper place, she filled out the medical form to break the lease and gave me a subscription for valium. Really I just wanted to move in with my boyfriend, but hey it worked, and I also got drugs out of the deal. My advise hit up a doc and really work the stress it is causing you.