Quote:
Originally Posted by photon
They have a fixed term lease, so they are responsible for the rent for the entire term of the fixed term (1 year the OP mentioned), or until the unit is re-rented.
The landlord is supposed to put every effort into re-renting if a tenant leaves early and then the tenant is only responsible up to the point where the new tenant moves in, but if they don't have a new tenant lined up for October 1 then the security deposit will go towards October rent.
I've had people leave in the middle of fixed term leases before. Generally it's easier to work with the people than try to sue over a month or two worth of rent.
That said if he's willing to risk losing his security deposit then just leaving is one option. There are some downsides.. you don't get a good landlord reference, and when applying at the new place there'll be a gap to explain.
And there are some people who are terrible, who knows maybe they'll keep the upstairs vacant for a year then come after Torture for the whole year worth of rent. Probably wouldn't succeed but going through that would still be disruptive to one's life.
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The hope is for the landlord to be reasonable and realize its not going to work. It would be extremely difficult for the landlord to pull the move you suggested in this market, and would easily lose as Alberta vastly prefers tenants to landlords.
Of course the best hope is the landlord is living in an illegal suite... Then they should be very willing to work with the tenant.