Your Guide to Breaking a Lease in MD

If you are experiencing issues with your Maryland property rental or have a reason you need to move to a different place, you may want to break your lease early. Breaking a lease in Maryland can be complicated, depending on if your reason is legal or insufficient. If you need help with breaking a lease in MD, DoNotPay can help you break your lease without any penalties.

Leasing a property can be a great way to have a place to live without having to commit to buying a home. However, there may come a time when you need to break your lease. Whether you're relocating for work, moving in with a partner, or have some other circumstances arise, you will need to follow the right lease-breaking procedures in Maryland to avoid costs from breaking your lease or denting your credit score.

Tenant Rights and Responsibilities When Signing a Lease in Maryland

When you're signing a lease, it's important to understand your rights and responsibilities. When breaking your lease in Maryland, it's especially critical to have all the information you can about what you are getting yourself into before making any agreements.

Here are some important tenant rights and responsibilities in Maryland you should be aware of:

• If you have a month-to-month lease, your landlord must offer you another rental agreement before the current one expires. This new agreement will list the new terms and conditions of staying in this property.
• You must provide your landlord with written notice if you plan on moving out. If the termination date is not included in this letter, it should be negotiable between the two parties.
• As a tenant, you have a responsibility to leave the property as it was when you moved into it. This means you are responsible for maintaining the lawn, repairing any damage that occurs in your unit or on common grounds, and taking good care of all appliances.

Reasons to Break a Lease in Maryland

Leasing a property can sometimes lead to unexpected changes in your life that make it difficult to fulfill the terms of your lease. Some common scenarios where you would need to break a lease are:

• Moving out of the country or state for work
• Relocating to care for a sick relative
• Having financial setbacks and not being able to afford rent
• Moving back in with family because you can no longer afford rent on your own

These reasons are unfortunately not legal reasons to break your lease. Instead, you will have to go through a process to negotiate with your landlord. However, there are some reasons in Maryland where you can legally break a lease, including:

• Active military duty
• Landlord harassment
• Domestic violence. According to Md Real Property Code, 8-5A-03 and 8-5A-04, you may need to provide proof to your landlord.
• Uninhabitable unit
• If there is an early termination clause, and you provide notice 30 days prior

Lease Termination Notice Requirement in Maryland

Each state has its own termination notice requirements that differ depending on your lease type. Here is the lease termination notice requirement information in Maryland, according to iProperty Management:

How to Break a Lease in Maryland on Your Own

Breaking a lease can be quite stressful, especially if you don't understand all the terms and conditions of what breaking your lease will entail. If you want to break your lease on your own in Maryland, here are some helpful tips to consider:

1. Check your specific situation: If you signed an agreement that outlines how much notice is required, then it will need to be honored. If you did not sign an agreement, then try to come to an agreement with your landlord if possible to avoid further issues.
2. Give proper notice: Look at the table in the previous section to see what proper notice is depending on your lease type.
3. Find a new tenant: Your landlord may require that the lease be transferred over to another person. This means they will need to find somebody who is ready to move in at the same time you are moving out.
4. Terminate utilities: You will need to make sure that all bills are paid before you leave. If you do not, this could result in getting cut off or incurring further charges for your landlord.

If you want to avoid what can happen if you break your lease, like fees and lawsuits, the process can be overwhelming and time-consuming. Thankfully, DoNotPay provides a faster solution.

How DoNotPay Can Help With Lease Issues in MD

DoNotPay was designed to help consumers navigate through legal agreements in a more efficient way. It is able to break your lease for you in a quick and painless process without you having to worry about credit history, previous negative marks on your record, or damaging your relationship with your landlord.

DoNotPay acts as your legal representative, advocate, and advisor—all in one. This service is able to understand your specific situation and provide you with various options that could either help you save money or protect your rights. If you need help with breaking a lease in MD, it is the perfect solution.

Here's how you can get started in 3 easy steps:

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.

These are the four potential methods that DoNotPay will use, depending on which you select:

• 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 do?

DoNotPay is built to help you save time and money by giving you the advice you need in a simple, efficient way. It has tons of other features that you can use to save money and solve your problems. DoNotPay has helped people get their refunds on flights, get their insurance money back on stolen items, and even help them save thousands of dollars on things like overdraft fees.

Beyond helping you break a lease in Maryland, DoNotPay can also help with the following:

• Reduce property taxes
• Breach of contract
• Change mailing address
• Power of attorney
• Cancellation issues

If you are a tenant in Maryland considering breaking your lease, DoNotPay can help. This easy-to-use app can provide you with information on how to break your lease lawfully and without penalty. Let DoNotPay guide you through the process so that you can confidently terminate your lease and move on with your life.