Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

If both you and the owner have not signed the lease then you might have only a month to month lease, which would mean if you give 30 days notice you would have no liability if yuou hve moved out and returned the key by then. Whether that is the situation is not clear, but certailnly it is a good argument to raise as the owner will not be sure if you are correct or not. Normally, even when a written agreement is not signed, it can be deemed executed by the actions of the parties. But in your case, the actions are the same as to whether the written contract or the legal assumption of a month to month tenancy exists.

If you are bound by the contract and ilt has no clause against your sub-leasing, you can do so at what ever price you want, even more than what you pay. The penalty clause for early termination seems very harsh and a court might not allow it to be enforced. The language of the portion of the lease that you clte makes me woder ilf there are not some parts of the lease that are poorly written that might let you out of some of its terms.

If you are in a rent control area those laws are superior to the contract. If management has refused to abate some type of problem that interfers wlth your quiet enjoyment of living there, there might be a weak argument of constructive eviction. You might need a simple letter from an attorney to pressure them into letting you out of the lease.