Breaking a Lease in Texas

Mitigating Rent Liability

In Texas, a landlord has the legal right to deny tenants requests to break a lease early unless it is a unique scenario. Therefore, if a tenant wishes to breaking a lease in Texas before its maturity, they must be familiar with the Texas Rental law and have some legal leverage. The following steps come in handy to help reduce liability for rent.

Reread the lease agreement 

The client gets advised to go over the lease agreement and check if exceptions get made for when the tenant could break the contract early. Most will contain a section on emergencies concerning family, work-associated relocation, or even loss of a job. One is required to lay a small fee to cover the landlord’s costs in re-letting. As much as this fee is allowed by the law, it should be a reasonable amount.

Try Negotiation 

Where no allowance gets given to break a lease agreement or the law does not cover it, the client tries to negotiate the terms with their respective landlord. The client receives advice to present solid arguments about why the situation is out of their hands and back it up with concrete evidence. The evidence can be a letter from the office or even a doctor. The client could convince the landlord that it is in their best interest to let the landlord know about the agreement’s breaking by the client. They could reason out that a tenant would have to pay extra since the market value went up since you rented. 

Move out

In an urban area popular with rental property, a tenant has the option of relying on mitigation for damages. Under rental law, the leased property owner gets expected to take measures deemed reasonable to mitigate the loss. It is through trying to re-let the property once the tenant moves out. In this case, you will get charged for the amount of time the property remained vacant. 

Write up Paperwork 

It is crucial to make all communication with the landlord official. The best way to go about this is to create a document containing a mutual declaration for immature tenancy termination. It should include details concerning the agreement to prevent any future exploration if the landlord changes their mind. 

Legal Justifications for Breaking a Lease 

• When a tenant joins active military duty, they are allowed by federal law to break any lease agreement. However, they have to be uniformed officers. 
• When there is negligence on the side of the landlord that has rendered the premises unsafe for habitation 
• If for any reason other than failure to pay rent, the landlord changes the locks to the premises. 
• Where a client gets sexually assaulted or the client is the victim’s parents. 
• If a tenant experiences harassment from the landlord and infringement on privacy rights 
• Where a client gets stalked, they are required to obtain a protective order to be allowed to break an agreement. 

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