Landlords, what happens if your tenant wants to leave early?

Can they walk away from the property, from the lease just like that? The short answer, no. We’ll go through the different ways in this video in which you can actually end a tenancy. 

Watch below or click here to watch on our YouTube Channel.

Transcription:

Okay so what happens if the tenant wants to leave early and they want to break the contract? Well it really boils down to two simple choices, you can either force them to stay or let them go.

This actually happened to one of our clients recently. And let's go take a look at the property. We're actually gonna meet her now.

So you might be wondering what are the different ways that a tenant can end a tenancy? Can walk away from the property, from the lease just like that? And the short answer is no. You have to fulfill the contract that was originally signed, you can't just unilaterally decide to terminate the contract because it's inconvenient for you
to finish the lease. We'll go through the different ways in which you can actually end a tenancy for the rest of this video. In the meanwhile, let's go take a look at the property.

[KNOCK KNOCK] Hello!?

[VOICE MASKED] What you could tell from...look at the expiry dates: September, October... Yeah, so I asked her if she wanted me to come in and remove this, she said yes, that's when I came in here and saw someone's living here.

So basically the tenant said that they were leaving the country due to some emergency medical procedures and they weren't coming back. And clearly this isn't the case. What would you do in this situation? Force them to stay and pay, or would you just let them go?

But before I answer that, I'm gonna have a disclaimer that I'm not a lawyer, I encourage you to seek some independent legal advice. Landlording is a serious business, you're playing with people's homes. So there's laws against it, no matter where you are. And this video is filmed in Ontario (Canada) so we're looking at the Ontario Residential Tenancy Act. So I would encourage you to seek some independent legal advice if you have a specific scenario.

My experience personally, I'd rather just let them go.

Hear me out and let me explain why. The first thing I like to so is start with the "why". Ask the tenant why they're leaving, see if there's any situation you can remedy or anything you can do to help the situation,
maybe you might end up having just a temporary hiccup and you can find a solution for that. Of course, the tenant has the right to enjoy the property while they're there and you cannot interfere with that. But there's some specific situations that the tenant can legally go. I will put a link in the description to give you an actual guideline on how a tenant can just end a tenancy early.

So yes, while the tenant can just physically pack up and leave overnight, let me ask you, what's the cost of enforcing the contractual obligations of the tenant? Now there's lost rent that you could have, there's time that it takes to get the court case, and then on top of that, there's legal costs, and you might be squeezing blood off a stone, I think the saying is.

Anyway, sometimes it does work in your favour for the tenant to move on their own and I know it sounds like you gave up, like you're getting taken advantage of, but hear me out. First, in a rising market like Toronto, where there's not nearly enough supply to meet the growing demands of the population growth here, rents are skyrocketing, so maybe you might get increased rent if you had a new tenant.

Also it can be seasonal so if the tenant somehow decides to move in the warmer months, we find that the rents are actually higher at that time, or you can get somebody in the winter months that need them for short term, to carry themselves to the spring or summer months, which might actually work in your favour.

Secondly, you can negotiate with your tenant and get your tenant onboard to help you find the next tenant. They would help with showings, keep the place tidy, and maybe even have somebody they would know that would want to take over the lease. Perhaps they'd be willing to kick in some of the cost to acquire a new tenant, either way they'd be way more motivated to help you with the transition, to minimize your vacancies, if it releases them from the legal obligations that they have with the tenancy. So you have to make sure that the tenants are up to date with their payments, and I would do a checkup process, to make sure that nothing is severely damaged before you let them out of the lease early.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us directly at (647) 955-8388, or leave a comment below and I'll look for it in the next video.