Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Massachusetts

Re: Breaking an Apartment Lease

You should first inform your landlord that you believe you will be unable to continue to pay his/her rent. Perhaps you can negotiate a lower rent payment if s/he believes it would be more expensive and timely to find a new tenant. With enough advance notice, your landlord may cooperate with you.

You should bring your lease into a lawyer's office and discuss your current options, and the consequences of each course of action. You may even be able to legally break your lease (in the case, for example, where the landlord has violated the terms of the lease).

Even in the event that you decided to unilaterally terminate the lease and were sued by the landlord, you have a number of defenses (and maybe even counterclaims) that may be asserted on your behalf.

I charge a reasonable flat fee for an office consultation, and would be happy to meet with you.