Am I able to break my lease agreement?

Hello! My name is Dolan and thank you so much for contacting me! I just had a few quick questions for you: 1. Is this a commercial or residential lease: 2. What is a reason you want to break it?

Got it. Unfortunately, the lease does not include an early termination clause or any language letting you end it early just because you're moving out of state. It's a fixed-term lease from to [DATE], and there’s no opt-out provision for relocation or job changes. So the downside here is that you're still bound to the lease. You're bound from the moment that you agree to rent the premises. This means that unless the landlord lets you out of it, you can't get out of it. If you walk away without a replacement tenant or agreement in writing, you’d technically be in default under Section 29, which allows the landlord to send a 30-day termination notice and then sue for damages (like unpaid rent) There is a silver lining: 1. You could see if you can find a subtenant to rent it from you. Section 25 specifically says that the tenant can assign or sublet the lease with the landlord’s permission, so consider asking around to others. 2. You can try to find someone to take over the lease agreement for you with the landlord's consent; 3. You could offer a settlement to the landlord, such as 1.5x the regular rent. 4. If you can't do either of those, then there is still some hope. Utah law generally requires landlords to mitigate damages, meaning they have to try to re-rent the place if you move out early. So even if you're technically in breach, they can't just leave the unit empty and collect rent from you through July because they have to make reasonable efforts to find new tenants. You may still be responsible for rent during the time it sits empty but not for the entire remaining lease if it gets re-rented sooner.

So legally, the landlord is required to find new tenants in this case - he has a duty to do this; however, to limit your own financial spending on this, keep marketing it and asking around!

So it doesn't count as him looking - it only counts as you looking. He has to do it himself, such as hiring an agent, posting it on those same sites, or even just asking around.

Ok got it - so what you could do is have someone who can help give informal tours. If you have a friend or family member who you can give a key and have them tour the place, that will help. People need shelter and sometimes it's easier than you think. Just remind the landlord that they are required by law to help with this and that you don't want a judge to have to intervene because they will find that the landlord's failure to help is their own fault.

You're welcome! So I would do things like have them provide to you their credit report, maybe a letter from an employer, their last two paystubs, and their tax transcript from 2023 and 2024 if they have it. You can email the landlord and say, "Hey, we have a great way for you to avoid having this place empty. We know it costs money when it's empty, and these new tenants we have are clean, friendly, and are able to pay the rent. Would you like me to send you their information? I have their paystubs and taxes." This save the landlord money on having to do a background check as well.

Understood - so if he's still not responsive after all of that, then it would be good to send him a notice stating that you have tried to help him mitigate his damages, therefore, you won't be responsible for the rent going forward.