What happens if I break my Rental Lease?

I live in Brisbane and have fallen into a particularly bad spot financially. I can't afford to live in my current house. What happens if I need to break my rental lease?What happens if I break my Rental Lease?
Consult your tenancy agreement. Usually you are required to pay up for the whole of the lease if you want to break the lease, unless ... it says otherwise in the document.





This is what determines your penalties. Usually there are clauses there that protects both parties. If landlord wants to break the agreement, he should do this and that.





If tenant wants to break the agreement, he should usually give two months notice in writing to the landlord and then live there for two more months before moving out. The only thing the landlord wants to do is to bring new tenants to view the premises, and to look at the condition of the house and see what repairs you are liable to pay for, within this period. You will have to allow his workmen in to do repairs.





I had tenants who quickly bought paint and did their own repainting to evade costs. This was silly as faded walls can be considered ';fair wear and tear'; and he need not be liable. Unless his kids drew with crayons all over the walls.





If you are truly in dire straits, landlords can be creatures of good heart sometimes. Not always. You can write a letter to tell him in a friendly fashion what ails your finances and beg for his leniency. He just might release you without your paying penalties. He might decided to allow you to go immediately if he can get a tenant to replace you. Or YOU go and get a tenant to replace you immediately at the same rental.





Or he might say, stay put and don't pay me the rent until you solve your financial problem. Then you can pay arrears in later years. Or even ';pay me what you can afford';. But such goodwill will be strained unless you solve your problem soon -- maybe with a better job? Eventually you might overstay your welcome. So you may have to quit if you don't know this guy well enough.





[I know because I am one of those bleeding hearts where a tenant once owed us $55,000 before my sister went and got an eviction notice. My argument was that this guy lived in the premises for eight years without giving us problems. And now his company is going kaput; are we going to add to his woes by kicking him out!? Hey, he actually paid us enough rent to pay off the mortgage on the house! If you have a landlord like me without a strict sister who wants to evict you, you might just get away with it!]





Here's all the good luck to solve your problem. I will say a prayer for your financial problems.