Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Continue Question to I want to move but am on Year Lease

Leases to two or more cotenants usually are written to make liability for the rent "joint and several," meaning that the landlord can look to either tenant, its choice, for 100% of the rent, and if either cotenant is unhappy with the outcome, that tenant's recourse is to the non-paying cotenant for a fair share, but not to the landlord.

If your lease also provides a flat fee to "break" it - which is unusual but perhaps legal if the amount is reasonable - the same rules of joint and several liability would probably also apply....if, for example, the flat fee to "break" the lease was $1,000, and you paid $500 of it, the possible outcomes are as follows:

(1) The landlord will reject the $500 payment and deem the lease still in effect; or

(2) The landlord will treat the lease as terminated with $500 still owing, and come after one or the other or both of you for the remaining $500.

Outcome #2 is more likely if you both move out. Now, here's another scenario: Suppose you pay the full $1,000 termination fee and move out, but your roomie doesn't pay, doesn't sign anything, and doesn't move out. Is the lease terminated as to him as well as you? Possibly, because one roommate might be treatable as the agent of the other. However, I frankly don't know how a court would decide this question if it came up and the language of the termination clause was silent on it. I would have to research the matter, and even then I might not find a completely reliable authority.