Malta - British Expat Forum

we have signed a lease agreement until Apr 2012, unfortunately we have to return home. Does anyone know if we will be liable to pay the rent up until then? I have looked at the contract and there is nothing regarding this.

It all comes down to the contract - if there is no break-clause, then you are going to have to hope the landlord is nice as he could insist its fully paid-up to the end of the contract,. Best is to talk to him ASAP.

Did you rent through an agent ?

yes rented through an agent..................

what is a no-break clause?

its no break-clause, not a no-break clause

A break-clause allows either party to break a contract before its natural expiry. Often in leases, the tenant can break the contract if forced to leave the island, subject to a penalty of typically 1-6 months rent. I always advise people to include something like this in an lease.

As you rented through an agent, I'd contact them for advice - I'm really surprised they didn't include a break clause in the lease.

is there any mention of "force majeure" in the contract ?

yes there is.......................

"force majeure" means circumstances beyond control, so that should be your getout - what's the exact wording ?

Quote:

As you rented through an agent, I'd contact them for advice - I'm really surprised they didn't include a break clause in the lease.

And if they didn't, you could argue that they were negligent, so the landlord can fight it out with them!

Mark,

In your reply to stated tenancy agreements usually have a clause stating:-

'the tenant can break the contract if forced to leave the island',

As it is written in the singular, could a person get out of an agreement if, say, they wanted to switch from one island to the other? if not, why doesn't it say 'leave the Maltese islands'?

After all someone might want to move to find work.

Red