It occurs quite frequently that a tenant informs his landlord that he wants to leave after having prolonged his lease. Many people think that a three-month notice given by the tenant suffices then to do so. Unfortunately such thinking is biased. It is true that articles 1974 and 1974.1 of the Civil Code of Quebec allow such a notice in particular cases, for instance, when a person receives a rental offer at medium rate or when a person cannot remain in his/her apartment any longer because of a handicap. However, in the majority of the non-specified cases to these articles, the tenant remains responsible for his lease.
Three solutions can then be envisaged
Subletting
It’s about a rental contract between the principal tenant of an apartment, called the tenant, and a third person, being the subtenant. One should keep in mind, however, that with this type of rental agreement, the tenant remains RESPONSIBLE for the lease. This means, among other things, that he keeps his right of occupancy of the premises, i.e. he may, at the end of the lease, re-integrate his apartment if he wishes to do so. This responsibility equally implies that, if the subtenant does not pay the rent, the tenant will have to do so, even if he does not live in the apartment in question anymore. Moreover, as his name indicates, the subtenant acquires, by subletting his apartment, a role appearing greatly similar to the one of the principal tenant. Consequently, if the subletting lease mentions that the apartment is equipped with a washing-drying machine and if such would not be conform to the facts, then it is the tenant who would have to install one and pay the costs attached to it. Briefly, this mechanism entails many more obligations for the principal tenant than the transfer of the lease.
The transfer of the lease
For its part, the transfer of a lease defines itself as the transmission, by ceding it to the transferee, of a right or a good. Clearly and in a more specific manner to the lease, the transfer is a contract by which a tenant cedes his lease to a third person. This third person then becomes tenant and the former tenant will be discharged of his obligations. Consequently, if the owner of the dwelling undertakes a recourse, it will be directed against the new tenant, because the former tenant will not have any legal ties with the said owner.
In both cases, be it subletting or transfer, the tenant who wishes to use these mechanisms must inform his landlord about this by indicating the name and address of the person to whom he wants to sublet or transfer his lease. The landlord then has 15 days beginning at the time of reception of this notice to indicate to the tenant whether he accepts or refuses to sublet or transfer the lease. This period of two weeks enables the landlord to do a credit investigation or a complete background check on the persons in question. Should the landlord fail to inform the tenant of his acceptance or of his refusal then he will be considered as having CONSENTED. It is good then to note that neither subletting nor transfer can be refused, except for serious motives. Concerning the payment of expenses caused by this change of tenants, it is good to know that the landlord can claim these from the tenant who leaves the apartment as long as these are reasonable. One can, for instance, think about the costs of the pre-rental investigation or the costs of the photocopies.
Termination of the lease
Finally, a third option is also possible. It is about the termination of the lease which defines itself as the annulment, without retro-active effect, of a contract concluded between two or several persons. Each one of the parties is then completely discharged of its obligations. The landlord can then re-rent the apartment TO A PERSON OF HIS CHOICE and the tenant, on his part, is not responsible anymore for the lease. Some landlords will prefer to proceed in this fashion and try themselves to find a future tenant rather than see themselves a person imposed on them by a tenant who wants to leave. A termination agreement must then be signed consequently in order to protect the landlord as well as the former tenant.
To conclude, you should know that you can find model forms for subletting, for transfer or for termination on our Website. And, more in particular, you should not hesitate to contact our legal service whenever questions come to your mind, be they related to the present chronicle or to any other subject dealing closely or from afar with relations between landlords and tenants.