Q: I recently signed a contract for a 12-month lease on an apartment, but I no longer wish to live in the building. Despite the lease's start date being several months in the future, the apartment company is now telling me I am bound by the contract and required to pay an early termination fee of approximately $4,500.

Is it possible for me to forgo the early termination fee based on the premise that I only agreed to honor the contract's terms within the lease's specified time frame, and not two months before the lease start date?

A: There are legal reasons for a tenant to terminate their lease early and may consist of joining or getting transferred in the military, a tenant's disability makes their rental unlivable, death of a tenant, domestic abuse or a judge's order.

Leases often run for one year and sometimes tenants want to break their lease early and move before their lease term is up. An early termination or break-lease clause is sometimes written into the lease language and typically allows a tenant to pay a fee to their landlord for terminating their lease early.

However, you signed a legal contract agreeing to pay monthly rent on an apartment whether you lived there or not. If you fail to honor the lease, your landlord can sue you for the entire rent. Since there is a clause limiting the landlord's damages to $4,500, that would likely be the most they could collect.

Finally, some states require landlords to cover their losses by finding a new tenant to replace the one who broke the lease. Minnesota has not yet formally adopted this requirement, but some Minnesota courts have required landlords to reduce their claim by finding a replacement tenant.

In your case, usually the tenant has already moved in when they decide they no longer want to live there, and they end their lease early by paying a fee. In this situation, your lease has not yet started, so a fee as high as $4,500 might likely be considered egregious and unjust enrichment for the landlord since the landlord has a few months to find a replacement tenant for the apartment.

You should speak to your landlord and let them know there is plenty of time to get a new tenant in that apartment, and that most courts would find that amount unjust for a place you never moved into. You can also tell the landlord that you understood the early termination fee to only incur after your lease term starts.

If you do not pay the penalty of $4,500, the landlord may decide to sue you in conciliation court. Most landlords choose to find replacement tenants and move on though since they incur charges when trying to locate, sue and collect on a fee such as this penalty.

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.