Denver, CO asked in Contracts and Landlord - Tenant for Colorado

Q: Hi, my wife and I resigned our lease in May of this year, even though our lease was not up until July 31st.

Our landlord said we had to re-sign then or she would put it on the rental market. Within the past two weeks we have been given an opportunity to move into a house. We gave our notice on June 27th for the end of July and now our landlord says we're breaking our lease and wants a half-months' rent in August to pay for advertising to try and find new tenants. Legal?

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1 Lawyer Answer
Tristan Kenyon Schultz
Tristan Kenyon Schultz
Answered
  • Fort Collins, CO
  • Licensed in Colorado

A: Review your lease agreement. From your facts, you attempted to terminate the lease early. It appears the landlord accepted the early termination, but requires reduced rents and extra fees until the property is released. If this is correct, the landlord can likely do this based on default Colorado laws, BUT you should review the lease agreement for early termination provisions because the default rules can be (and usually are) modified in lease agreements. You may want to consider contacting an attorney (paying for 1-2 hours will provide confidence on how to proceed).

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