Landlord Question and Answer Forum

I have tenants in Oklahoma that are breaking the lease 5 months early. They are buying a house. What is a fair "fee" when breaking the lease this early? I've read that fair = the amount of time/money it takes to turn the property for a new tenant. Anyone know the law? Your thoughts.

The one apartment that I rented, we wanted out of the lease because we found a house we wanted to buy. The landlord asked that we give him 30 days' notice along with that month's rent as well as another month's rent to break the lease. So in other words we paid an extra month's rent to cover time/expenses while we were out of the apartment regardless of how much time the apartment sat vacant. Not sure if this answers your question - but it's just once instance and seems reasonable to most renters. I now ask the same of my renters. What are everyone else's thoughts? Experiences?

Posted by Ray & Nicole W, IL on Wednesday, February 19, 2014

I have a section in my lease about breaking early. They have to pay me 80% of the monthly rent along with written notice and that tells me I can begin to market the property. However, they are still responsible for the remainder of the lease rent until I am able to fill it. So if it takes me 2 months to fill the property, then they are responsible for 2 more months of rent. Also, if they given me written notice of move out (different from notice of wanting to break lease), then I stop billing them utilities (those that I bill for). However, electricity must remain connected and they continue to pay until the property has been released. Their deposit is also still refundable under this clause.

Posted by Charles R. N, TX on Thursday, March 6, 2014