Best way to cancel a lease?

[darren9]

I have a few years left on a commercial lease and I would like to terminate my lease. I am having difficulty subleasing the space. Can I just cancel my post-dated cheques and vacate the premises? This is a sole proprietorship.

[xstatik]

Being a sole proprietorship, you will personally be on the hook for the remainder of the lease. The Lease is a legal, binding contract. If you cancel your lease, you are in default

Try talking to your landlord to see if you "buy out" of your lease. Depending on your landlord and the space, you may be able to negotiate. Landlord should be willing to negotiate as many landlords just don't want to go through the hassle of recovering the money in the legal avenue should you default.

[ottawasportsfan2010]

I have a few years left on a commercial lease and I would like to terminate my lease. I am having difficulty subleasing the space. Can I just cancel my post-dated cheques and vacate the premises? This is a sole proprietorship.

1)Try and work out a buy out with the landlord.

2)If you cancel the cheques and just leave the chances are the landlord will take you to court and more then likely win.

[darren9]

Hey thanks for the response. I think I left out a very important detail. I am not the original tenant and according to the Landlord's lease assignment consent agreement, the original tenant is still responsible for performance and waives any right to require the landlord to proceed against the Assignee (me).

However in the agreement between the Assignor and I, I agreed to indemnify them from any further liability so I'm not sure which agreement takes precedence.

And yes I will be speaking to a lawyer tomorrow!

[BornRuff]

Hey thanks for the response. I think I left out a very important detail. I am not the original tenant and according to the Landlord's lease assignment consent agreement, the original tenant is still responsible for performance and waives any right to require the landlord to proceed against the Assignee (me).

However in the agreement between the Assignor and I, I agreed to indemnify them from any further liability so I'm not sure which agreement takes precedence.

And yes I will be speaking to a lawyer tomorrow!

It's not really a question of which agreement takes precedence, both can be held true.

What could happen if things break down is that the landlord will sue the original tennant, because their agreement is with them, not you. Then the tennant will sue you, because they have an agreement with you. You could likely end up oweing not only the entirety of the rest of the lease, but the legal costs of both the landlord and the orginal tennant as well.

[Canuck32]

BornRuff is correct. Look at the two contracts as being separate but equally enforceable. Also keep in mind that the leasor has a duty to mitigate, meaning if you breach, they do need to look for another tenant to keep their damages to a minimum.