Landlord Question and Answer Forum

Can I as the landlord break a lease before the new tenant even moves in? I signed the lease but after we both signed it he talked about coming up with all the money each month. Now I don't want to rent to him because I have other people that will and that want the apartment. I feel like i'm going to have problems with him paying! HELP!!!

Unfortunately, I am unaware of a way that you could back out of the deal (at least without penalties) since you have now signed the agreement. The only option that I can think of is that as soon as they are late you may have to start legal proceedings on them. The only other option I can see is to really talk with them about the costs and try to make them come to an understanding that they can't really afford the place. If they then realize this fact and seem troubled, you act like the nice person and say "I don't want you to get more in debt or in trouble, so I am willing to negate the whole contract without fee or penalty to you." It takes some very careful wording on how you phrase things, because you don't want to go over the line of correctness and potentially get yourself into legal problems. Hopefully they aren't moving out of their current situation quickly and that could be a benefit to you. Good luck!

Posted by Eric D, NH on Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Thank you for replying!

Posted by Jennifer H, NY on Thursday, April 7, 2011