Step-by-Step Guide To Breaking A Lease Due To Mental Illness

Breaking a lease before its due date isn't always the best move, no matter how justified your cause. Most times, the lease termination process might end up backfiring, and you'll have to deal with the consequences.

While breaking a lease due to mental health might seem like a valid enough reason, knowing how to break one without penalty is something else altogether. After all, you initially promised to pay rent before the due date for the full term of the lease.

So, what happens when you break a lease early due to mental illness, and how can DoNotPay help to fully resolve this issue? Read on to find out.

Breaking a Lease Due to Mental Illness on Your Own

Suppose you or your spouse has a physical or mental disability that requires you to relocate to get better medical care and treatment that you cannot receive in the rental unit. In that case, you may be within your legal rights to terminate your lease.

However, for most leases, you must give your landlord at least 30-day written notice to allow him/her to advertise the rental unit as vacant when you relocate. The written notice must also state why you're terminating the lease and reasons for relocating.

When breaking your lease due to mental illness, follow these steps to ensure you go about it properly:

Termination Varies Depending on Your State

Most states allow renters to terminate their rental lease early when their co-tenant or child has a medical disability. However, the procedures vary, depending on your state. Generally, you will need a written certificate from a certified physician in your state.

Together with the lease termination notice, this certificate will help you break your lease without too much trouble. It is also worth noting that different states provide different legal reasons to break a lease. Therefore, you must familiarize yourself with the legal bounds of breaking your lease and if mental illness falls in that category.

When the State Says No

Seeking the state's help to break your lease due to a medical emergency might not always be fruitful. That's because most states don't have a law permitting the "doctor's note" to terminate a lease. In such states, you'll be on the hook for the rent payments for the entire lease period, whether you stay in the rental unit or not.

However, you may be eligible for lease termination if the apartment actually caused the mental illness or other medical condition. Such apartments violate the state's health and safety codes and might be liable for paying for the victim's medical fees and other lawsuits.

Appeal to Your Landlord's Good Nature

It is always best to approach your landlord about your issue first and explain why you want to break your lease early. There's always a fair chance that the landlord will be sympathetic and allow you to break your lease without penalty.

Try to negotiate a mutual lease termination process if possible. However, you should also be prepared to fork up some cash in compensation for breaking your lease. You must at least try to cover some of the financial loss the landlord might face for letting you break your lease early, especially if you have several months left on your lease.

What Can Happen if You Illegally Break Your Lease

Illegally breaking your lease can have numerous repercussions. A lease is a binding contract that is enforceable by law. Therefore, you must be prepared to face legal consequences for terminating it before its full term.

Some of these consequences may include:

• Landlord suing you for the rent owed
• You may have an eviction on your record
• Landlord could sue for breach of contract
• Judgments and eviction processes will negatively impact your credit score
• You could have difficulty finding a new apartment

These are just some possible ramifications of terminating your lease early. These consequences also vary, depending on your state, so check your state’s requirements in the chart below:

Breaking a Lease Due to Mental Illness With the Help of DoNotPay

Breaking your lease can hurt your credit and sometimes cost you fines and penalties if you're not too careful. While terminating a lease due to mental illness might seem justifiable, things might not always work in your favor.

DoNotPay provides you with an easier, quicker, and stress-free way of getting off your lease without ramifications. You can trust the DoNotPay app to get you off your rental lease successfully without rubbing shoulders with your landlord or the law.

If you want to terminate your lease with DoNotPay, simply follow these steps to get started:

1. Search Break My Lease on DoNotPay.

2. Prepare a signed copy of your lease that you can use as a reference, and enter the state the lease was signed in.

3. Let us guide you through the 4 potential options.

Then, DoNotPay solves your problem in one of the following ways, depending on your unique situation:

• If you're a uniformed service member breaking a lease to fulfill your service obligations, we'll send your landlord an SCRA Protection Letter.
• If you're breaking your lease for a reason protected by your state's tenant laws, we'll write your landlord a letter detailing your protections for breaking the lease under the relevant law.
• If your reasons for breaking your lease aren't protected by federal or state law, but you'd like to try to convince your landlord to let you break the lease through mutual agreement, we'll draft a hardship letter making your case to your landlord.
• If there are no remaining options for breaking the lease with protection, but your state requires landlords to mitigate damages to tenants who break their leases, we'll notify your landlord of that obligation and minimize the remaining rent you have to pay.

What Else Can DoNotPay Solve?

DoNotPay will not only help solve your lease termination problem, but it also offers other amazing services you can benefit from as well. Here are some top services the app provides:

• Breach of contract
• Cancel subscriptions
• Change mailing address
• Reduce property taxes
• Power of attorney

Breaking a lease due to mental illness isn't as easy as most tenants would think. The process can be quite strenuous and time-consuming. Let DoNotPay help you with your lease termination as you focus on more important things.