How To Leave Premises Before A Lease Term Expires

The provisions of a lease bind tenants until the end of the lease period. If a tenant wants to leave premises before a lease term expires, there are three options: surrendering, transferring, or subletting.

The best way for a tenant to end a lease early is to surrender the lease. Surrender cannot be forced on a landlord. Unless the landlord has a replacement tenant, at a higher rent, a landlord might refuse to accept surrender.

Ordinarily, after surrender, neither the landlord nor the tenant has any liability or obligation to the other. For this reason, the landlord should ensure that all the tenant's obligations under the lease have been complied with, and rents paid, before signing or accepting the surrender.