Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Re: Apartment Lease Termination Fees

Yes, but not a specific dollar amount. The maximum they can charge you is their actual damages for the breach of the lease. That is measured by (1) the rent actually lost between your surrender of possesion and the re-letting of the apartment, (2) any costs associated with re-letting the property (advertising, commissions, etc...), and (3) any difference in the rental rate between what you were paying (or would have paid under the lease) and what the new tenant is paying, but only through the end of the lease term. Also, read your contract to see if you agreed to specific early-termination fee. As you can see, its almost impossible for a management company to determine these damages before they have the apartment re-let, so often they charge some sort of flat-fee and hope that the tenant doesn't fight it. Ask to see information about when they relet the apartment, what the new rent was, and what their cost of re-letting the apartment was before paying anything.

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