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Tenancy Agreement - clarification please..

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Canadajim
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Tenancy Agreement - clarification please..

Post by Canadajim » Wed, 07 Jul 2010 3:36 am

Hi,

Having read the tenancy agreement thread in detail, could somebody confirm the following...

Regarding a standard agreement, if the tenant choses to terminate the agreement early he/she has one of two options which are:

a) to find a new tenant to take over the lease (although in practice how is this do-able and how feasible is it? I am thinking that you would need to appoint an agent on your behalf and am not sure where you would stand on that legally?)

b) Pay the remainder of the lease in advance (ouch)

I've been in other parts of the world whereby 60 days notice is required for early termination and you would forfeit your security deposit (plus more maybe but rarely full payment of term) Full payment of the remainder weighs clearly in the landlords favour.

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x9200
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Re: Tenancy Agreement - clarification please..

Post by x9200 » Wed, 07 Jul 2010 6:33 am

Canadajim wrote:Hi,

Having read the tenancy agreement thread in detail, could somebody confirm the following...

Regarding a standard agreement, if the tenant choses to terminate the agreement early he/she has one of two options which are:

a) to find a new tenant to take over the lease (although in practice how is this do-able and how feasible is it? I am thinking that you would need to appoint an agent on your behalf and am not sure where you would stand on that legally?)

In what sense? Your goal would be to find a replacement tenant. You can try to do it by yourself or via a third party what can be equally good an agent or Santa Claus or your brother. In the case of the agent you would be likelly expected to cover his/her expenses.

b) Pay the remainder of the lease in advance (ouch)

It depends how much of it still remains till the end of the contract. Think about it this way: you should compensate for reasonable expenses the landlord would suffer due to your early lease termination. This will typically include the agent's commission fees on prorated bases + rent in lieu for the time typically needed to find a new tenant (max 3 months I guess) + the difference in rental prices if significant and applicable + some compensation for the waste of time.

I've been in other parts of the world whereby 60 days notice is required for early termination and you would forfeit your security deposit (plus more maybe but rarely full payment of term) Full payment of the remainder weighs clearly in the landlords favour.

Add an option c) to include a diplomatic clause in your TA t allow an earlier termination of the lease.

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Post by NBB2 » Wed, 07 Jul 2010 12:14 pm

Yes, a diplomatic clause is a good addition/safeguard against an early lease termination kind of situation.

Keep in mind though, that the dip clause usually only kicks in after the first year of the lease and tends to apply mostly to 2-year leases or more.

Keep in mind also that you still lose your security deposit.

Lastly, finding a replacement need not be hopeless. In fact, rents may have risen during your tenure, making landlords quite keen to break the contract, since it gives them the chance to start afresh with a higher rent.

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Saint
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Post by Saint » Wed, 07 Jul 2010 12:22 pm

99% of Landlords are locals, 99% of tenants are expats, should explain why a TA will always favour a Landlord.

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