Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Giving notice is how month-to-month rentals are terminated. A lease for a fixed period runs until the period is up. At the end of the lease term, neither the landlord nor the tenant nees to give the other notice; the lease simply expires. Prior to the end of the term of a lease for a fixed period, neither the landlord nor the tenant may terminate the lease except for a limited range of reasons, which include substantial and uncured breach by the other party, destruction of the premises, fraud, and any reason permitted by the terms of the lease.

In your case, unhappiness due to noise and crime might be, but probably isn't, cause to terminate the lease. In order to be sufficient reason, you'd perhaps have to be able to show that the landlord concealed the facts about crime and noise, and that it was reasonable for you to have assumed the place was quiet and safe. My hunch is that if this went to court on a breach of lease complaint, the landlord would have the better chance of prevailing.

This very brief reply does not attempt to discuss every ground you might have for terminating your tenancy nor every defense you might have for breaching your lease; I'm just indicating that a lease is binding on the parties and that the tenant (or the landlord) MAY but doesn't often have a ground to terminate early.

In your favor, after an early departure by a tenant, the landlord's damages are not necessarily 100% of the remaining rent; the damages are capped at actual losses where a good-faith effort to re-rent is made, and absent such an effort to re-rent the landlord is entitled to little or nothing. With 4 1/2 months left, this sounds like a potential Small Claims Court suit if you do move out early.