There are many reasons why you might want to cancel your lease prematurely. You might have been asked to transfer to work in another city. Your relationship might have ended, and with your partner’s exit you might not be able to afford rent. The question is, can you cancel your lease so that you can move on? You might be wondering, when and how can I cancel my residential lease? We will be doing a blog series on this topic looking at the various laws that are applicable to this situation.
How do I cancel my residential lease via contract?
If you want to cancel your lease, your first port of call should be to inspect your lease contract. If your contract has a cancellation clause in it, then you have a right to cancel your lease. To cancel, you need to follow the procedures set out in the cancellation clause.
If there is no cancellation clause, you may still cancel if there is mutual agreement between you and the landlord. If you cancel by mutual agreement, be sure to follow any other necessary requirements in the contract (for example, the contract may require that any changes to the contract be made in writing).
How do I cancel my residential lease via the Rental Housing Act?
The Rental Housing Act (RHA) is one law that provides certain circumstances in which you may cancel your lease. A purpose of the RHA is to regulate relationships between landlords and tenants. It sets out the general requirements concerning lease contracts. The RHA provides for certain provisions to be deemed always included in a residential lease agreement.
When dealing with the question of how you may cancel your residential lease, the RHA comes into play when you continue to occupy your property after the fixed period of your lease has expired. In this situation, according to the RHA, your lease agreement will continue to operate on the same terms and conditions as are contained in the written document. The duration of the lease, however, will be one month and will continue on a month to month basis. According to the RHA, in these circumstances, you have a right to cancel by giving one month’s notice. Our common law says that this notice has to be given at the beginning of the calendar month (for example, 1st June).
There are also other laws that apply to the topic of canceling your residential lease. These will be covered in part 2 of this series.
Need help?
If you have wondered, “how do I cancel my residential lease?” and need help in this regard, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected].