Leaving apartment before end of period

Discuss it with your landlord.

No one goes to jail over an apt lease, esp if theyve paid cash upfront for all the months theyre gonna be staying there..

pva 74asked . . . . hi dear friends.i need to leave my apartment before my en of contract (February 2025).i want to leave end of October 2024.my friend say, you can go in jail if you leave before !!!how can i need to find the thru?thanks for your help

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First things first

You want to leave, did you find a new apartment?

(1) Make arrangements with the landlord for a buyout.

(2) Or live there till the end of the lease.

(3) Or move and keep paying the rent.

(4) Or maybe you can sublease and subsidize a new renter as an incentive.

If you break the contract the landlord can file a case at the small claims court (if the rental contract is clean on his side (e.g. he has a business permit and the DOT approved the aparment for rent)). If you leave the Philippines for good it might not be a problem for you and the landlord might not even file a case as this is a lot of work.

If you stay in the Philippines and there is a case from the small claims court against you, you need to pay and as long as you have not paid, they can block your departure from the Philippines at the immigration. For an unpaid bill you will not go to jail, however, it is more likely that a bill collection agency knocks at your door at the new address in the Philippines.

A better solution is to make an agreement with the owner of the apartment. If apartments are in high demand in your region, the owner might make a deal. e.g. 50% of the rental price. if something happend over there (e.g. you want to leave because it is unsafe to stay there) you might even get a better deal.

all the best

Andy

@pva74 You will certainly NOT go to jail. You might lose your security deposit depending on the lessor (owner). It is best to talk this out with the owner.

All good advice above but Bob suggested subleasing and I do not think you can do this without written approval from your Landlord. If you did sublease and the new tenants trashed the apartment or there was any damage to it, you could be the one paying for the damages.

Hi,

"i need to leave my apartment before my end of contract (February 2025)."

Doesn't your contract have a pre-termination clause? In my experience most contracts have. It is normal to rent out an apartment for a contract period of one year only. This is usually done by the landlord to have the flexibility to cancel the lease at the end of the contract period without any kind of legal issues with the lessee.

My own lease contract is for one year only with a rollover clause until one of the parties gives notice of termination 60 days before expiration date of contract. The 60 days notice period also applies to pre-termination for both parties. No particular reason for such pre-termination is required and no penalties of any kind is mentioned except payment for damages beyond normal "tear and wear" upon date of leaving, which normally means that the deposit will almost never be returned. However, in my case I'm still a lessee of my studio condo, which I rented for P 2.500/month in 1993. Today I pay P 9K/month. Quite a bargain in the middle of uptown Cebu City center.

"i want to leave end of October 2024."

If your contract says that you have to pay until the end of the contract and there is no pre-termination clause, then I assume you just have to pay the rent for the 3 remaining months. However, you should deduct the deposit for one month if you hand over your apartment in the same good order as when you moved in.

"my friend say, you can go in jail if you leave before !!!"

Did your friend experience anything similar as a lessee? If not, ask him how he got such information. Sounds like BS to me. In my opinion, moving out before the end of the contract period can have many perfectly normal reasons and is never a crime unless the tenant completely wrecked the apartment in a rage and left in the middle of the night without paying for the damages!

"how can i need to find the truth?"

Study your lease contract first and take it from there. If anything is unclear or missing, talk to the landlord for additional information and give him/her a good reason why you have to move out early - truthful or imagined. (Sickness in the family back home in your country always works well.). You will find out that it is all about the money, nothing else!

Good luck.

(1) Leases I've seen (states) have automatic renewal that turns into month to month, then 30 days notice is required by either party to vacate or terminate.

(2) Other leases I've seen have confession of judgement. (They represent you in court without notice to you and plead guilty)

((They represent you in court without notice to you and plead guilty) - @Enzyte Bob

I’m no lawyer so don’t listen to me, but that right there ought not to be legal.