A tenant is entitled to cancel a fixed term lease as long as 20 business days notice is given in writing. The cancellation is subject to a reasonable cancellation penalty which is normally any damage suffered by a landlord (including lost rental or replacement commission).
Clause 21 of your lease agreement provides you with an explanation of the costs and reasonable penalties that could be applied should the lease be terminated early.
21.1 If the Tenant chooses to cancel this Lease Agreement prior to the expiry of the Initial Period for a reason other than a Material Breach of this Lease Agreement by the Landlord, or the Tenant is transferred out of South Africa for occupational or diplomatic reasons, thereby causing this Lease Agreement to terminate prior to the expiry of the Initial Period, then the following will apply:
21.1.1 the Tenant shall give the Landlord at least 20 (Twenty) Business Days’ Written notice of such cancellation; and
21.1.2 the Landlord shall be entitled to recover any loss suffered by the Landlord as a result of such early cancellation of the Lease Agreement by charging the Tenant a reasonable cancellation penalty, which will be the equivalent of not less than the amount stated in item 1.29.
21.1.3 the Landlord shall be entitled to recover from the Tenant any commission paid or due to the Property Practitioner.
21.2 The factors that will be considered when determining the reasonable cancellation penalty contemplated in clause 21.1.2 will include:
21.2.1 the amount of time left until the Initial Period is due to terminate;
21.2.2 whether the Landlord is likely to find another Tenant to replace the Tenant within a reasonable time; and
21.2.3 whether the Tenant agrees this is a fair and reasonable cancellation penalty.
21.3 If the Landlord or The Property Practitioner (as the case may be), by acting reasonably and diligently, is able to enter into a new lease agreement during the 20 (Twenty) Business Day notice period set out in clause 21.1.1, and the new lease agreement is for the same duration or a longer period than the remaining period of this Lease Agreement, then the Tenant shall only be liable for the reasonable advertising costs incurred by the Landlord in advertising the Premises and for any commission due to the Property Practitioner. The advertising costs and commission charged under this clause 21.3 may not be more than the reasonable cancellation penalty set out in item 1.29.
21.4 In terms of clause 21.3, the Tenant acknowledges that the unexpired portion of the amount due in terms of the Procurement Commission will be calculated by taking the total amount referred to in clause 1.33, divided by the number of months in the lease and multiplied by the unexpired remaining months on the lease.
21.5 The Tenant will be liable for an early cancellation administration fee of R2 000 (Ex VAT) over and above any additional cancellation fees that may apply.
Should the property sit vacant then you may be liable for the rental until a replacement tenant is found.
Any damages or cleaning required to the unit will still be charged (if applicable).
Please sign this document confirming that you have read and understood the applicable cancellation penalties for the early cancellation of your lease.
