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Can my landlord keep a two month deposit if I break a rental lease agreement?
Anonymous6 views4 answers
I have rented a house in Miami, FL. I paid the first months rent ($2,000), last months rent ($2,000), and security deposit ($2,000) on the inception of the lease. The lease also states that if I break the lease, I will pay a $4,000 early termination fee.
I want to leave at the end of March. If the owner finds a new tenant to start renting on April 1st, can they still keep my deposit or the early termination fee?
Yes, your landlord could keep the deposit even if a new tenant willing to pay more entered into possession the day after you leave. You agreed to an early termination fee. However, only a review of the actual lease by an attorney, followed by an opinion, should be relied upon.
Generally, leases are like any other binding contract. When you contracted with your landlord, you agreed to pay rent for a certain term (presumably one year). Fortunately for you, your lease allows you to break it provided you pay an early termination fee (which are consistently held to be legal). If your lease did not contain such a provision, you might've found yourself on the hook for the entire amount of rent due and owing under the term of your lease.
So, the short answer is yes...you are responsible for the early termination fee regardless of whether the landlord finds another tenant.
Yes, if you and the landlord signed an early termination clause in the contract, then the landlord is entitled to two months' worth of rent upon your terminating early. So, if you give keys at the end of March, be prepared to give the landlord two months' worth of rent.
Good luck.
I am not licensed in FL, and I agree with counsel that you may have to forfiet the deposit, even if the landlord suffers no damages because there is no vacancy. However, I'm not so sure you will. This is a residential lease, and there may be a FL law that protects you in this situation. In Maryland, landlords are required to mitigate damages in situations like yours. Therefore, the state law would probably render the lease provision unenforcible if this case were in Maryland because the contractual clause that contradicts the state laws is generally unenforcable. Again, you should consult local counsel, but I would be surprised if the FL laws allow a residential landlord two extra month's rent when he suffered no damages. You of course will be liable for any damages the landlord actually incurrs with regards to this tenacy.
