Q: One of my cousins lives in northern Minnesota with her husband, and they are both in their late 50s. My cousin's husband has recently been diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury of unknown origin, and has been told he can no longer work.
His vocation of over 30 years has been in alternative education, specifically involving students of color and students with extra life challenges. He has been working in a Twin Cities suburb at this job until he was told he could no longer work.
Even though they live in northern Minnesota, he had rented an apartment in Minneapolis and was often commuting back and forth. Apparently, he recently renewed the apartment lease in Minneapolis before he found out he could no longer work. The landlord will not let him out of the lease or let him sublet the apartment, even though he has no use for it.
The medical details are horrendous, and they have their hands full trying to figure out what comes next for them. On top of those overwhelming concerns, it appears they have to pay rent on an apartment they cannot use. What should they do?
A: There are several legal reasons that allow a tenant to break a lease early and not have to continue paying rent.
Some of the legal reasons allowing a tenant to break their lease consist of joining or transferring in the armed forces, a disability that makes the unit unlivable for the tenant (for example, the tenant lives on the fourth floor, is now in a wheelchair and can no longer access his apartment, but it's too expensive for the landlord to install an elevator), domestic abuse situations where the tenant fears imminent violence, or when a judge allows the lease to break through a court order. None of these apply in your cousin's husband's situation.
However, because the husband can no longer work and doesn't have the income to cover the apartment rental, your cousin or her husband should contact the landlord once again and tell them you need to pay a couple months' rent to terminate the lease early. That should give the landlord plenty of time to find a replacement tenant. Many leases have a break lease provision allowing tenants to pay two months' rent to terminate their lease early.
Based on your question, your cousin's husband's lease did not include this provision. Some landlord's leases that don't have the break lease provision, such as this one, will still allow the tenant to pay something to break the lease early since it's better for the landlord to get some form of payment over having tenants just leave without paying anything.
If your cousin's husband's landlord will not allow some payment to break the lease early, then they should contact HOMELine, a tenants' rights organization, at 612-728-5767. Their attorneys on staff could possibly handle the situation for your relatives. Also, remember if their landlord does agree to some form of payment to end their lease early, have them make sure to get the agreement in writing and signed by both parties.
Kelly Klein is a Minneapolis attorney. Participation in this column does not create an attorney/client relationship with Klein. Do not rely on advice in this column for legal opinions. Consult an attorney regarding your particular issues. E-mail renting questions to kklein@kleinpa.com. Information provided by readers is not confidential.
