We are all facing a great deal of uncertainty at the moment. For some of us, moving will become a necessity in the near future. People renting a property and needing to break the lease before the end date may be worrying over what their options are.
It is possible to break your rental lease legally in the Philippines. Do note that we said possible. There is no guarantee your landlord will allow you to break the agreement and they may have the law on their side. With that being said, here are some ways you might be able to break your rental lease legally in the Philippines.
1) Find a replacement tenant
The easiest and most straightforward way to get your landlord to agree to break your rental lease legally in the Philippines is to find someone else to rent your unit. At the end of the day, all landlords just want renters. They won’t care if you leave as long as someone is already lined up to replace you.
Finding a replacement tenant is better than subleasing your home, which is illegal unless you have permission from your landlord.
2) Check for an opt out clause
Another way to break your rental lease legally in the Philippines is to utilize an opt out clause in your agreement. Not every lease agreement contains these clauses, so you will need to see if you have one. In some cases, opt out clauses will require you to pay a fine in order to end the contract.
3) Negotiate with your landlord
If you don’t have an opt out clause and can’t find someone to take over your lease, all that is left is to try and negotiate an agreement with your landlord. Realistically, your landlord doesn’t want you to leave as finding a new tenant could be difficult. And they have rights to enforce the lease you signed.
Assuming your landlord understands the situation and wants to find a compromise, giving a 60- or 90-day notice instead of 30 days may be one workaround. While you may be stuck in your current rental agreement for a month or two longer than you’d like, the extra time gives the landlord a chance to find a new tenant.
Another solution is to offer the landlord your security deposit in exchange for breaking the lease. In cases where a tenant has six months or less to run on the rental agreement, some landlords are willing to accept such a compromise.
