Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Fees for Breaking a Lease

I am breaking a lease to accept a new job 400 miles away. The landlord has hired a property management company to handle re-renting the house. The landlord says he is going to deduct the prop. manager's fee ($400), plus their cost to run the ad, from our deposit. It only took the prop. manager one weekend to re-rent the home and we are paying rent up to the day the new renters move in. Can the landlord charge us this fee? Does it seem excessive?


Asked on 9/17/03, 10:07 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Martin Snitow

Re: Fees for Breaking a Lease

The property manager rented the house in only one weekend? Sounds like they did a great job. The landlord can probably recover the manager's fee and the cost of the ad under Civil Code �1951.2(a):

"... (4) Any other amount necessary to compensate the lessor for all the detriment proximately caused by the lessee's failure to perform his obligations under the lease or which in the ordinary course of things would be likely to result therefrom."

See: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cacodes/civ/1940%2D1954.1.html

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Answered on 9/18/03, 5:20 pm


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