Breaking a lease in CA

[Anonymous]

I also posted this in Real Estate, but posting here too in case anyone with specific California real estate experience reads this post:

Our family moved out of state (CA) in January due to a great new job in another state. We were 6 months into a 2 year lease for a SFH in the Bay Area. The property owner posted the house on Zillow in February, but has not rented it yet. We are going into our 4th month of paying double rent/mortgage, with the CA property being almost double what we are paying in our new state.

The issue is the property owner does not seem motivated at all to move the house. Why would he be? He only has it posted on Zillow, and has made up excuses for the past 2 people who filled out applications/were interested in renting the house.

We are continuing to pay his rent for the unknown future. I'm so stressed that we are going to run out of money. Is there anything we can do before trying to get a lawyer involved?

[Anonymous]

Wash t there a flat flee for terminating the lease? I feel like all the leases I’ve signed had a fee for ending the lease early so I could decide if it was worth paying the fee or paying the rent until the lease ends. Otherwise I don’t know. It seems pretty straightforward. You said you’d pay until x date, so you pay until x date.

[Anonymous]

I thought California had great renter protections and you could just give 30 days notice to leave (doesn’t even have to be at the beginning of the month, just 30 days). That’s how it was for a family member in San Jose.

Another option: can you sublease instead?

[Anonymous]

Former CA renter here. Unfortunately you’re generally on the hook for the monthly rent until the landlord has found a suitable replacement. You can try asking a lawyer to review your lease for any loopholes, but I wouldn’t expect much wiggle room.

[Anonymous]

Call the city renter protection unit of the city where the rental is located and they are often pretty good with advice.
Also I can’t vouch for it but I’ve heard people just handed the keys and stopped paying and even if the owner goes to small claims court they usually lose as CA is very pro renter (and they don’t want to go that route since it’s more expensive then just cutting the losses and finding a new renter).