Can a tenant break a fixed-term lease early?
Short answer
Only by a route in the Act. In NL a fixed term runs to its end unless the landlord agrees in writing, the tenant assigns or sublets with consent, or a listed case applies: certain ill-health cases, death, family violence, landlord breach.
Only by one of the routes the Act provides. A tenant's notice on a fixed term is not less than 2 months before the end of the term (s.18(1)(c)), so ordinarily the term runs to its end. The routes out earlier are: the landlord and tenant agree in writing to end on a specific date (s.18(5)); the tenant assigns or sublets with the landlord's written consent, which the landlord may not arbitrarily or unreasonably withhold (Statutory Condition 3); one month's notice, with evidence, where the tenant's income is reduced by ill health, the person helping with the rent can no longer do so because of ill health, the tenant must live with a family member because of that person's ill health, the tenant is admitted permanently to a personal care home for the aged, or the tenant dies (s.18(8)); at least 30 days' notice, given within 90 days, where the director has issued a family violence certificate (s.25, s.26); and early termination for cause where the landlord does not remedy a breach of a material term, breaches Statutory Condition 1 (repair and fitness for habitation), or interferes with the tenant's peaceful enjoyment (s.20(1), s.21(1), s.23). A tenant who leaves without one of these may be liable for the landlord's lost rent, but the landlord must take reasonable steps to re-rent the unit (Statutory Condition 4), and Residential Tenancies awards lost rent only where the landlord has done so (Policy 06-003).
- Where this comes from
- Section 18(1)(c), (5), (8); Sections 20, 21, 23, 25, 26; Section 10, Statutory Conditions 3 and 4, Residential Tenancies Act, 2018 (Newfoundland and Labrador)
- Last reviewed