Hi, please can you assist.We signed a le...

Asked by Kayla on 06-09-2021 12:32:23
Question posted in the Landlord Tenant Law category relating to Western Cape

Hi, please can you assist.

We signed a lease agreement for the term 15 December 2020 to 30 November 2021. We have decided to relocate to another town on 30 September 2021, We gave a 2 Months notice on 1 August 2021 to vacate the premises on 30 September 2021( Terminating the lead prematurely by 2 months).

We have offered our assistance in finding a tenant but the agent said that they will take care of this and that if they find a tenant to move in at 1 October we will only be liable to pay and administration fee of R1500.

They did bring a lot of people to the property for viewing, but the owner has since decided that she wants to increase the rental from R25000 to R26000, she also decided that they would not consider any tenants with pets (This is a 5 bedroom house for a family with a yard in a pet friendly estate) The estate agent said that this makes it very difficult to find a tenant as it is a family house and families have pets.

They have now found a tenant and the owner has decided to sign the lease and approve the tenant, this was now on 1 September, but this tenant can only move in on the 15th of October 2021. They have now informed us that we will be liable for the rent for that 15 days @ R12500.

I feel that there is still a month left to find a tenant for 1 October and that they have diced on their own that they would accept the lease for 15 October without trying any further.

Please can you let me know where we stand with regards to the liability in paying the R12500 for the 15 days until the new tenant moves in.

Answer to the Question

Posted by Att. Patrick on 07-09-2021 18:46:03

Hi there,

I see that you haven't made a payment for the question, but I'm going to assist you a little. If you want to ask a follow-up question, please make the required payment, even if it is R150 or R200.

In terms of law, the landlord is entitled to claim "a reasonable cancellation penalty" from you as a result of your early termination of the lease. This is normally 1 months' rental, so if they want 15 days, I would accept that.

Att. Patrick 

Please remember this is a dialog if you have follow-up questions please make the required deposit, then use the REPLY button and ask your further question. I would like to continue assisting you, but I need to concentrate on people who make deposits for their questions - they get serviced first!

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