Terminating a rental agreement is not necessarily complicated – however the process is often surprising to tenants and as an owner, it is very useful to have an experienced Property Manager working on your behalf.

Congratulations on your home purchase! Kudos to you on your job promotion and location change! Very exciting for tenants, these are the two most common reasons tenants ask to terminate their lease early.

The first thing to keep in mind as a tenant is communication!

If you receive a job promotion that will require a change of location, make sure to discuss with your Property Manager as soon as possible.

If you are interested in purchasing a home, talk to your Property Manager about your options BEFORE making the purchase. Certainly avoid purchasing a home in the middle of your lease. Otherwise you will likely find yourself paying rent and your new mortgage.

The second thing to keep in mind is that a Property Manager works for the owner. They should always be operating with the best interest of the owner in mind.

At Crosstown Properties we utilize several measures to ensure the best outcome for the owner first and foremost and tenant where possible.

With nearly two decades of experience, we know that when a tenant calls asking to terminate their lease early they are most likely going to leave no matter what. This is especially true in the case of a job promotion or purchasing a home. That being said most tenants also understand that they are asking a favor of the owner to terminate their lease early and are more than happy to do so according to the terms of their lease.

The Texas Realtors lease that we use at Crosstown Properties has provisions for terminating a lease early in Paragraph 28. Leases are terminated under this paragraph only at the owner’s discretion if certain conditions are met by the tenant.

These conditions include but are not limited to:

Considering that tenants who ask to terminate their lease early will almost always leave, we recommend that the owner allow implementation of Paragraph 28. This way the owner receives at least the one months rent reletting fee and more than likely the rent paid through the beginning of another lease.

Not implementing paragraph 28 can be risky – for the owner and the tenant. If not provided a legal option to terminate early, the tenant will likely abandon the property. This leaves the owner not receiving the re-letting fee or rent while the property is vacant and the tenant owing rent for which they can be sent to collections.

Paragraph 28 is almost always a win-win option for everyone. We generally find a new tenant in 30-60 days so the owner receives rent as normal with limited interruptions and the tenant is able to end their lease many months before the contract end date – all parties are happy!!!

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