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Terminating a rental lease early in Washington State
Anonymous4 views2 answers
We are purchasing a home and need to break our apartment lease early. We have been told by non-professional friends that WA state law states that a landlord would not be able to charge an early termination fee because the cause for breaking the lease is the purchase of a home. Is that true?
Our landlord has told us that our apartment has been rented to a new tenant that will take occupancy approximately 2 weeks after we move out. If these new tenants backout, our landlord states that we will continue to be responsible for the rent. Is that true?
Chapter 59.18 RCW is WA's residential landlord-tenant act. The statutes are at http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=59.18 . Your rental likely is governed by the RLTA.
You can review the statutes to see if you can find one that states "a landlord would not be able to charge an early termination fee because the cause for breaking the lease is the purchase of a home". My reading of the statutes is that there is no such provision.
The other place you can check is your written agreement. Perhaps your agreement has some provisions regarding early termination.
Your landlord has a duty to mitigate his damages, in this case, by re-renting the place. He cannot charge and collect double rent. Landlords can charge an "early termination fee" if that is in the contract - and generally speaking, a court will likely award your landlord an additional month's rent for your decision to get out sooner than the end of the lease.
If your landlord has a new tenant lined up, it ceases being your problem the next month. Hope this helps - Elizabeth Powell
